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a 

SHE SHOOK HER HEAD. I SHOULD OBJECT MOST STRONGLY 
TO NOCTURNAL DISTURBERS OF MY SLUMBERS !” 

FRONTISPIECE. See page ^8S. 






THE 

PAWNS COUNT 


By E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM 

H 



With Frontispiece 
By F. VAUX WILSON 

A. L. BURT COMPANY 
Publishers New York 

Published by arrangement with Little, Brown & Coupany 





Copyright^ 1918^ 

Bt Little, Brown, and Company. 
All rights reserved 








FOREWORD 


‘‘I am for England and England only,” John 
Lutchester, the Englishman, asserted. 

“ I am for Japan and Japan only,” Nikasti, the 
Jap, insisted. 

“ I am for Germany first and America after- 
wards,” Oscar Fischer, the German-Araerican pro- 
nounced. 

“ I am for America first, America only, America 
always,” Pamela Van Teyl, the American girl, de- 
clared. 

They were all right except the German- American. 


✓ 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


CHAPTER I 

Mefiez-Vous ! 

Taisez-Vous! 

Les Oreilles Ennemies Vous Ecoutent! 

The usual little crowd was waiting in the lobby 
of a fashionable London restaurant a few minutes 
before the popular luncheon hour. Pamela Van 
Teyl, a very beautiful American girl, dressed in the 
extreme of fashion, which she seemed somehow to 
justify, directed the attention of her companions to 
the notice affixed to the wall facing them. 

“ Except,” she declared, “ for you poor dears who 
have been hurt, that is the first thing I have seen 
in England which makes me realise that you are at 
war.” 

The younger of her two escorts. Captain Richard 
Holderness, who wore the uniform of a well-known 
cavalry regiment, glanced at the notice a little im- 
patiently. 

‘‘ What rot it seems ! ” he exclaimed. We get 
fed up with that sort of thing in France. IPs 
always the same at every little railway station 
and every little inn. ‘Mefiez-vous! Taisez-vous ! ’ 
They might spare us over here.” 

John Lutchester, a tall, clean-shaven man, dressed 


2 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


in civilian clothes, raised his eyeglass and read out 
the notice languidly. 

“ Well, I don’t know,” he observed. “ Some of 
you Service fellows — not the Regulars, of course 
— do gas a good deal when you come back. I don’t 
suppose you any of you know anything, so it doesn’t 
really matter,” he added, glancing at his watch. 

“ Army’s full of Johnnies, who come from God 
knows where nowadays,” Holderness assented 
gloomily. ‘‘No wonder they can’t keep their mouths 
shut.” 

“ Seems to me you need them all,” Miss Pamela 
Van Teyl remarked with a smile. 

“ Of course we do,” Holderness assented, “ and 
Heaven forbid that any of us Regulars should say 
a word against them. Jolly good stuff in them, too, 
as the Germans found out last month.” 

“ All the same,” Lutchester continued, still study- 
ing the notice, “ news does run over London like 
quicksilver. If you step down to the American bar 
here, for instance, you’ll find that Charles is one of 
the best-informed men about the war in London. 
He has patrons in the Army, in the Navy, and in 
the Flying Corps, and it’s astonishing how com- 
municative they seem to become after the second 
or third cocktail.” 

“ Cocktail, mark you, Miss Van Teyl,” Holder- 
ness pointed out. “ We poor Englishmen could 
keep our tongues from wagging before we acquired 
some of your American habits.” 

“ The habits are all right,” Pamela retorted. 
“ It’s your heads that are wrong.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


3 

‘‘ The most valued product of your country,” Lut- 
chester murmured, “ is more dangerous to our hearts 
than to our heads.” 

She made a little grimace and turned away, hold- 
ing out her hand to a new arrival — a tall, broad- 
shouldered man, with a strong, cold face and keen, 
grey eyes, aggressive even behind his gold-rimmed 
spectacles. There w^as a queer change in his face 
as his eyes met Pamela’s. He seemed suddenly to 
become more human. His pleasure at seeing her 
was certainly more than the usual transatlantic 
politeness. 

“ Mr. Fischer,” she exclaimed, ‘‘ they are saying 
hard things about our country ! Please protect 
me.” 

He bowed over her fingers. ^Then he looked up. 
His tone was impressive. 

If I thought that you needed protection. Miss 
VanTeyl— ” 

“ Well, I can assure you that I do,” she inter- 
rupted, laughing. “ You know my friends, don’t 
you.^ ” 

I think I have that pleasure,” the American re- 
plied, shaking hands with Lutchester and Holder- 
ness.* ^ 

“ Now we’ll get an independent opinion,” the 
former observed, pointing to the wall. “We were 
discussing that notice, Mr, Fischer. You’re almost 
as much a Londoner as a New Yorker. What do 
you think.? — is it superfluous or not.? ” 

Fischer read it out and smiled. 

“ Well,” he admitted, “ in America we don’t lay 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


4 

much store by that sort of thing, but I don’t know 
as we’re very good judges about what goes on over 
here. I shouldn’t call this place, anyway, a hot- 
bed of intrigue. Excuse me ! ” 

He moved off to greet some incoming guests — a 
well-known stockbroker and his partner. Lutches- 
ter looked after him curiously. 

“ Is Mr. Fischer one of your typical millionaires, 
Miss Van Teyl? ” he asked. 

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“ We have no typical millionaires,” she assured 
him. “ They come from all classes and all States.” 

‘‘ Fischer is a Westerner, isn’t he.? ” 

Pamela nodded, but did not pursue the conversa- 
tion. Her eyes were fixed upon a girl who had just 
entered, and who was looking a little doubtfully 
around, a girl plainly but smartly dressed, with 
fluffy light hair, dark eyes, and a very pleasant ex- 
pression. Pamela, who was critical of her own sex, 
found the newcomer attractive. 

“ Is that, by any chance, one of our missing 
guests. Captain Holderness .? ” she inquired, turning 
towards him. I don’t know why, but I have an 
idea that it is your sister.” 

“ By J ove, yes ! ” the young man assented, step- 
ping forward. “ Here we are, Molly, and at last 
you are going to meet Miss Van Teyl. I’ve bored 
Molly stiff, talking about you,” he explained, as 
Pamela held out her hand. 

The girls, who stood talking together for a mo- 
ment, presented rather a striking contrast. Molly 
Holderness was pretty but usual. Pamela was beau- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 5 

tiful and unusual. She had the long, slim body of 
a New York girl, the complexion and eyes of a 
Southerner, the savoir faire of a Frenchwoman. 
She was extraordinarily cosmopolitan, and yet ex- 
traordinarily American. She impressed every one, 
as she did Molly Holderness at that moment, with 
a sense of charm. One could almost accept as truth 
her own statement — that she valued her looks 
chiefly because they helped people to forget that she 
had brains. 

“ I won’t admit that I have ever been bored. Miss 
Van Teyl,” Molly Holderness assured her, “ but 
Dick has certainly told me all sorts of wonderful 
things about you — how kind you were in New York, 
and what a delightful surprise it was to see you 
down at the hospital at Nice. I am afraid he must 
have been a terrible crock then.” 

“ Got well in no time as soon as Miss Van Teyl 
came along,” Holderness declared. ‘‘ It was a bit 
dreary down there at first. None of my lot were 
sent south, and a familiar face means a good deal 
when you’ve got your lungs full of that rotten gas 
and are feeling like nothing on earth. I wonder 
where that idiot Sandy is. I told him to be here 
a quarter of an hour before you others — thought 
we might have had a quiet chat first. Will you 
stand by the girls for a moment, Lutchester, while 
I have a look round? ” he added. 

He hobbled away, one of the thousands who were 
thronging the streets and public places of London — ^ 
brave, simple-minded young men, all of them, with 
tangled recollections in their brains of blood and fire 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


^nd hell, and a game leg or a lost arm to remind 
them that the whole thing was not a nightmare. He 
looked a little disconsolately around, and was on the 
point of rejoining the others when the friend for 
whom he was searching came hurriedly through the 
turnstile doors. 

‘‘ Sandy, old chap,” Holderness exclaimed, with 
an air of relief, “ here you are at last ! ” 

Cheero, Dick ! ” was the light-hearted reply. 
‘‘Fearfully sorry I’m late, but listen — just listen 
for one moment.” 

The newcomer threw his hat and coat to the at- 
tendant. He was a rather short, freckled young 
man, with a broad, high forehead and light-coloured 
hair. His eyes just now were filled with the enthu- 
siasm which trembled in his tone. 

“ Dick,” he continued, gripping his friend’s arm 
tightly, “ I’m late, I know, but I’ve great news. I’ve 
motored straight up from Salisbury Plain. I’ve 
done it ! I swear to you, Dick, I’ve done it ! ” 

“ Done what? ” Holderness demanded, a little be- 
wildered. 

“ I’ve perfected my explosive — the thing I was 
telling you about last week,” was the triumphant 
reply. “ The whole world’s struggling for it, Dick. 
The German chemists have been working night and 
day for three years, just for one little formica, and 
I’ve got it ! One of my shells, which fell in a wood 
.at daylight this morning, killed every living thing 
within a mile of it. The bark fell off the trees, and 
the labourers in a field beyond threw down their 
implements and ran for their lives. It’s the prin- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 7 

ciple of intensification. The poison feeds on its own 
vapours. The formula — I’ve got it in my pocket- 
book — ” 

“ Look here, old fellow,” Holderness interrupted, 
“ it’s all splendid, of course, and I’m dying to hear 
you talk about it, but come along now and be intro- 
duced to Miss Van Teyl. Molly’s over there, wait- 
ing, and we’re all half starved.” 

“ So am I,” was the cheerful answer. “ Hullo, 
Lutchester, how are you.? Just one moment. I 
must get a wash. I motored straight through, and 
I’m choked with dust. Where do I go ? ” 

“ I’ll show you,” Lutchester volunteerecL 
‘‘ Hurry up.” 

The two men sprang up the stairs towards the 
dressing-room, and Holderness strolled back to 
where his sister and Pamela were talking to a small, 
dark young man, with rather high cheek-bones and 
olive complexion. Pamela turned around with a 
smile. 

“ I have found an old friend,” she told him, 
“ Baron Sunyea — Captain Holderness. Baron 
Sunyea used to be in the Japanese Embassy at 
Washington.” 

The two men shook hands. 

“ I was interested,” the Japanese said slowly, “ in 
your conversation just now about that notice. Your 
young friend was telling you news very loudly in- 
deed, it seemed to me, which you would not like 
known across the North Sea. Am I not right.?” 

“ In a sense you are, of course,” Holderness ad- 
mitted, “ but here at Henry’s — why, the place is 


8 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


like a club. Where are the enemies’ ears to come 
from, I should like to know ? ” 

“ Where we least expect to find them, as a rule,” 
was the grave reply. 

‘‘Quite right,” Lut Chester, who had just rejoined 
them, agreed. “ They still say, you know, that our 
home Secret Service is just as bad as our foreign 
Secret Service is good.” 

Holderness smiled in somewhat superior fashion. 

“ Can’t say that I have much faith in that spy 
talk,” he declared. “No doubt there was any quan- 
tity of espionage before the war, but it’s pretty well 
weeded out now. I say, how good civilisation is ! ” 
he went on, his eyes dwelling lovingly on the interior 
of the restaurant. “ Tophole, isn’t it, Lutchester 
— these smart girls, with their furs and violets and 
perfumes, the little note of music in the distance, 
the cheerful clatter of plates, the smiling faces of 
the waiters, and the undercurrent of pleasant voices. 
Don’t laugh at me, please. Miss Van Teyl. I’ve 
three weeks more of it, by George — perhaps more. 
I don’t go up before my Board till Thursday 
fortnight. Dash it, I wish Sandy would hurry 
up ! ” 

“ You never told me how you got your wound,” 
Pamela observed, as the cc yersation flagged for a 
moment. 

“ Can’t even remember,” was the careless reply. 
“ We were all scrapping away as hard as we could 
one afternoon, and nearly a dozen of us got the 
knock, all at the same time. It’s quite all right 
now, though, except for the stiffness. It was the 


THE PAWNS COUNT g 

gas did me in. , . . What a fellow Sandy is! You 
people must be starving.” 

They waited for another five minutes. Then 
Holderness limped towards the stairs with a little 
imprecation. Lutchester stopped him. 

“ Don’t you go, Holderness,” he begged. “ I’ll 
find him and bring him down by the scruff of the 
neck.” 

He strode up the stairs on a mission which ended 
in unexpected failure. Presently he returned, a 
slight frown upon his forehead. 

“ I am awfully sorry,” he announced, “ but I can’t 
find him anywhere. I left him washing his hands, 
and he said he’d be down in a moment. Are you 
quite sure that we haven’t missed him.? ” 

‘‘ There hasn’t been a sign of him,” Molly declared 
promptly. I am so hungry that my eyes have been 
glued upon the staircase all the time.” 

Pamela, who had slipped away a few moments be- 
fore, rejoined them with a little expression of sur- 
prise. 

“ Isn’t Captain Graham here yet ? ” she asked in- 
credulously. 

Not a sign of him,” Holderness replied. “ Queer 
set out, isn’t it.? We won’t wait a moment longer. 
Take my sister and Miss Van Teyl in, will you? ” 
he went on, laying his hand on Lutchester’s shoulder. 
“ Ferrani will look after you. I’ll follow directly.” 

The chief maitre d’hotel advanced to meet them 
with a gesture of invitation, and led them to a table 
arranged for five. The restaurant was crowded, and 
the coloured band, from the space against the wall 


lO 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


on their left, was playing a lively one-step. Fer- 
rani was buttonholed by an important client as they 
crossed the threshold, and they lingered for a mo- 
ment, waiting for his guidance. Whilst they stood 
there, a. curious thing happened. The leader of 
the orchestra seemed to draw his fingers recklessly 
across the strings of his instrument and to produce 
a discord which was almost appalling. A half- 
pained, half-amused exclamation rippled down the 
room. For a moment the music ceased. The con- 
ductor, who was responsible for the disturbance, 
was sitting motionless, his hand hanging down by 
his side. His features remained imperturbable, but 
the gleam of his white teeth, and a livid little streak 
under his eyes gave to his usually good-humoured 
face an utterly altered, almost a malignant expres- 
sion. Ferrani stepped across and spoke to him for 
a moment angrily. The man took up his instru- 
ment, waved his hand, and the music re-commenced 
in a subdued note. Pamela turned to the chief 
maitre d’hotel, who had now re-joined them. 

What an extraordinary breakdown ! ” she ex- 
claimed. ‘‘Is your leader a man of nerves.^” 

“ Never have I heard such a thing in all my days,” 
Ferrani assured them fervently. “ Joseph is one of 
the most wonderful performers in the world. His 
control over his instrument is marvellous. . . . Cap- 
tain Holderness asked particularly for this table.” 

They seated themselves at the table reserved for 
them against the wall. Their cicerone was with- 
drawing with a low bow, but Pamela leaned over to 
speak to him. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


iz 


‘‘Your music,” she told him, “ is quite wonderful. 
The orchestra consists entirely of Americans, I sup- 
pose ? ” 

“ Entirely, madam,” Ferrani assented. “ They 
are real Southern darkies, from Joseph, the leader, 
down to little Peter, who blows the motor-horn.” 

Pamela’s interest in the matter remained unabated. 

“ I tell you it makes one feel almost homesick to 
hear them play,” she went on, with a little sigh. 
“Did they come direct from the States 

Ferrani shook his head. 

“From Paris, madam. Before that, for a little 
time, they were at the Winter Garden in Berlin. 
They made quite a European tour of it before they 
arrived here.” 

“ And he is the leader — the man whom you call 
Joseph,” Pamela observed. “ A broad, good- 
humoured face — not much intelligence, I should im- 
agine.” 

Ferrani’s protest was vigorous and gesticulatory. 
He evidently had ideas of his own concerning 
Joseph. 

“ More, perhaps, than you would think, madam,” 
he declared. “ He knows how to make a bargain, 
believe me. It cost us more than I would like to 
tell you to get these fellows here.” 

Pamela looked him in the eyes. 

“ Be careful. Monsieur Ferrani,” she advised, 
“ that it does not cost you more to get rid of them.” 

She leaned back in her place, apparently tired of 
the subject, and Ferrani, a little puzzled, made his 
bow and withdrew. The music was once more in 


12 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


full swing. Their luncheon was served, and Lut- 
chester did his best to entertain his companions. 
Their eyes, however, every few seconds strayed to- 
wards the door. There was no sign of the missing 
guest. 


CHAPTER II 


Molly Holderness, for whom Graham’s absence 
possessed, perhaps, more significance than the others, 
relapsed very soon into a strained and anxious si- 
lence. Pamela and Lutchester, on the other hand, 
divided their attention between a very excellent 
luncheon and an even flow of personal, almost in- 
quisitorial conversation. 

“ You w ill find,” Pamela warned her companion 
almost as they took their places, “ that I am a very 
curious person. I am more interested in people than 
in events. Tell me something about your work at 
the War Office.? ” 

“ I am not at the War Office,” he replied. 

Well, w^hat is it that you do, then.? ” she asked. 
“ Captain Holderness told me that you had been out 
in France, fighting, but that you had some sort of 
oflicial position at home now.” 

“ I am at the Ministry of Munitions,” he ex- 
plained. 

“ Well, tell me about that, then.? ” she suggested. 
‘‘ Is it as exciting as fighting.? ” 

He shook his head. 

“ It has advantages,” he admitted, “ but I should 
scarcely say that excitement figured amongst them.” 

She looked at him thoughtfully. Lutchester was 
a little over thirty-five years of age, tall and of 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


14 

sinewy build. His colouring was neutral, his com- 
plexion inclined to be pale, his mouth straight and 
firm, his grey eyes rather deep-set. Without pos- 
sessing any of the stereotyped qualifications, he was 
sufficiently good-looking. 

“ I wonder you didn’t prefer soldiering,” she ob- 
served. 

He smiled for a moment, and Pamela felt unrea- 
sonably annoyed at the twinkle in his eyes. 

“ I am not a soldier by profession,” he said, “ but 
I went out with the Expeditionary Force and had a 
year of it. They kept me here, after a slight wound, 
to take up my old work again.” 

“ Your old work,” she repeated. ‘‘ I didn’t know 
there was such a thing as a Ministry of Munitions 
before the war.” 

He deliberately changed the conversation, direct- 
ing Pamela’s attention to the crowded condition of 
the room. 

“ Gay scene, isn’t it ? ” he remarked. 

“ Very ! ” she assented drily. 

“ Do you come here to dance.? ” he inquired. 

She shook her head. 

“ You must remember that I have been living in 
Paris for some months,” she told him. “ You won’t 
be annoyed if I tell you that the way you English 
people are taking the war simply maddens me. 
Your young soldiers talk about it as though it were 
a sort of picnic, your middle-aged clubmen seem to 
think that it was invented to give them a fresh in- 
terest in their newspapers, and the rest of you seem 
to think of nothing but the money you are making. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


15 

And Paris. . . . No, I don’t think I should care to 
dance here ! ” 

Lutchester nodded, but Pamela fancied somehow 
or other that his attitude was not wholly sympa- 
thetic. His tone, with its slight note of admonition, 
irritated her. 

‘‘You must be careful,” he said, “not to be too 
much misled by externals.” 

Pamela opened her lips for a quick reply, but 
checked herself. 

Captain Holderness and Ferrani had entered the 
room and were approaching their table, talking 
earnestly. The latter especially was looking per- 
plexed and anxious. 

“ It’s the queerest thing I ever knew,” Holderness 
pronounced. “ We’ve searched every hole and cor- 
ner upstairs, and there isn’t a sign of Sandy.” 

“ Have you tried the bar? ” Lutchester inquired. 

“ Both the bar and the grillroom,” Ferrani as- 
sured him. 

“ If he had been suddenly taken ill — ” Molly mur- 
mured. 

“ But there is no place in which he could have 
been taken ill which we have not searched,” Ferrani 
reminded her. 

“ And besides,” Holderness intervened, “ Sandy 
was in the very pink of health, and bubbling over 
with high-spirits.” 

“ One noticed that,” Lutchester remarked, a little 
drily. 

“ He might almost have been called garrulous,” 
Pamela agreed. 


i6 THE PAWNS COUNT 

Ferrani took grave leave of them, and Holderness 
seated himself at the table. 

“Well, let’s get on with luncheon, anyway,” he 
advised. “ It’s no good bothering. The best thing 
we can do is to conclude that the impossible has 
happened — that Sandy has met with some pals and 
will be here presently.” 

“ Or possibly,” Lutchester suggested, “ that he 
has done what certainly seems the most reasonable 
thing — gone straight off to the War Office with his 
formula and forgotten all about us. Let us return 
the compliment and forget all about him.” 

They finished their luncheon a little more cheer- 
fully. As the cigarettes were handed round, 
Pamela’s eyes looked longingly at a tray of Turkish 
coffee which was passing. 

“ I’m a rotten host,” Holderness declared, “ but, 
to tell you the truth, this queer prank of Sandy’s 
has driven everything else out of my mind. Here, 
Hassan ! ” 

The coloured man in gorgeous oriental livery 
turned at once with a smile. He approached the 
table, bowing to each of them in turn. Pamela 
watched him intently, and, as his eyes met hers, 
Hassan’s hands began to shake. 

“ The waiter is bringing us ordinary coffee,” 
Holderness explained. Please countermand it and 
bring us Turkish coffee for four.” 

The man had lost his savoir faire. His wonderful 
smile had turned into something sickly, his bland 
speech of thanks into a mumble. He turned away 
almost sheepishly. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


17 

“ Hassan doesn’t seem to like us to-day,” Molly 
remarked. 

“ I should have said that he was drunk,” 
her brother observed, looking after him cu- 
riously. 

There was certainly something the matter with 
Hassan, for it was at least a quarter of an hour 
before he reappeared and served his specially pre- 
pared concoction with the usual ceremony but with 
more restraint. Molly and the two men, after Has- 
san had sprinkled the contents of his mysterious 
little flask into their coffee, gave him their hands for 
the customary salute. When he came to Pamela he 
hesitated. She shook her head and he fell back, 
bowing respectfully, his hand tracing cabalistic 
signs across his heart. For a moment before he de- 
parted, he raised his eyes and glanced at her. It 
was like the mute appeal of some hurt or frightened 
animal. 

‘‘ You don’t approve of Hassan’s little cere- 
mony ? ” Lutchester asked her. 

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“ In America,” she observed, ‘‘ I think we look 
upon coloured people of any sort a little differently. 
Well, we’ve certainly given your friend a chance,” 
she went on, glancing at the little jewelled watch 
upon her wrist. “We’ve outstayed almost every 
one here.” 

Their host paid the bill, and they strolled reluc- 
tantly towards the door, Holderness and Pamela a 
few steps behind. 

“ Now what are your sister and Mr. Lutchester 


i8 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


studying again? ” the latter inquired, as they 
reached the lobby. 

Molly had paused once more before the notice on 
the wall, which seemed somehow to have fascinated 
her. She read it out, lingering on every word: 

MEFIEZ-VOUS ! 

TAISEZ-VOUS ! 

LES OREILLES ENNEMIES VOUS 
ECOUTENT! 

Holderness listened with a frown. Then he turned 
suddenly to Lutchester, who was standing by his side. 

“ It would be too ridiculous, wouldn’t it — you 
couldn’t in any way connect the idea behind that 
notice with Sandy’s disappearance?” 

“ I was wondering about that myself,” Lutchester 
confessed. “ To tell you the truth, I have been 
wondering all luncheon-time. If ever a man broke 
the letter and the spirit of that simple warning I 
should say your excitable young friend. Captain 
Graham, did.” 

“ But here at Henry’s,” Holderness protested, 

with friends on every side I Isn’t it a little too 
ridiculous! We’ll wait until the last person is out 
of the place, anyway,” he added. 

The crowd soon began to thin. Ferrani, seeing 
them still waiting, approached with a little bow. 

“ Your friend,” he asked, “ he has not arrived, eh? ” 

‘‘No sign of him,” Holderness replied gloomily. 

“What about his hat and coat?” Ferrani in- 
quired, with a sudden inspiration. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


19 

“ Great idea,’’ Holderness assented, turning to- 
wards the cloakroom attendant. ‘‘ Don’t you re- 
member my friend, James? ” he went on. “ He ar- 
rived about half-past one, and threw his coat and 
hat over to you.” 

The attendant nodded and glanced towards an 
empty peg. 

“ I remember him quite well, sir,” he acknowl- 
edged. “ Number sixty-seven was his number.” 

“Where are his things, then?” 

“ Gone, sir,” the man replied. 

“ Do you remember his asking for them? ” 

The attendant shook his head. 

“ Can’t say that I do, sir,” he acknowledged, “ but 
they’ve gone right enough.” 

A party of outgoing guests claimed the man’s at- 
tention. Holderness turned away. 

“ This thing is getting on my nerves,” he declared. 
“ Does it seem likely that Sandy should chuck his 
luncheon without a word of explanation, come out 
and get his coat and hat and walk off? And, be- 
sides, where was he all the time we were looking 
for him? ” 

It was unanswerable, inexplicable. They all 
looked at one another almost helplessly. Pamela 
held out her hand. 

“ Well,” she announced, “ I am sorry, but I’m 
afraid that I must go. I have a great many things 
to attend to this afternoon.” 

“You are going away soon?” Lutchester in- 
quired. 

She hesitated, and at that moment Mr. Fischer, 


20 THE PAWNS COUNT 

who had been saying farewell to his guests, turned 
towards her. 

“You are not thinking of the trip home yet, Miss 
Van Teyl? ” he asked. 

“ Oh, I don’t know,” she answered a little 
evasively. “ I’m out of humour with London just 
now.” 

“ Perhaps we shall be fellow-passengers on Thurs- 
day.? ” he ventured. “ I am going over on the New 
York:^ 

“ I never make plans,” she told him. 

“ In any case,” Mr. Fischer continued, “ I shall 
anticipate our early meeting in New York. I heard 
from your brother only yesterday.” 

She looked at him with a slight frown. 

“ From James.? ” 

Mr. Fischer nodded. 

“ Why, I didn’t know,” she observed, “ that you 
and he were acquainted.” 

“ I have had large transactions with his firm, and 
naturally I have seen a good deal of Mr. Van Teyl,” 
the other explained. “ He looks after the interests 
of us Western clients.” 

Pamela turned a little abruptly away, and Lut- 
chester walked with her to the door. 

“ You will let me see that they bring your car 
round.? ” he asked. 

She shook her head. 

“ Thank you, no,” she replied, holding out her 
hand. “ I have not yet said good-by to Captain 
Holdemess and his sister. Good-by, Mr. Lutches- 
ter!” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


21 


Her farewell was purposely chilly. It seemed as 
though the slight sparring in which they had in- 
dulged throughout luncheon-time, had found its cul- 
mination in an antipathy which she had no desire to 
conceal. Lutchester, however, only smiled. 

“ Nowadays,” he observed, ‘‘ that is a word which 
it is never necessary to use.” 

She withdrew her hand from his somewhat too 
tenacious clasp. Something in his manner puzzled 
as well as irritated her. 

“ Do you mean that you, too, are thinking of 
taking a holiday from your strenuous labours? ” she 
asked. “ Perhaps America is the safest country in 
the world just now for an Englishman who — ” 

She stopped short, realising the lengths towards 
which her causeless pique was carrying her. 

“ Prefers departmental work to fighting, were you 
going to add? he said quietly. “ Well, perhaps you 
are right. At any rate, I will content myself by 
saying au revoir.” 

He passed through the turnstile door and disap- 
peared. Pamela made her adieux to Holdemess and 
his sister, and then, recognising some acquaintances, 
turned back into the restaurant to speak to them. 
Fischer, who had just received his hat and cane 
from the cloakroom attendant, stood watching her. 


CHAPTER III 


Pamela, after a brief conversation with her friends, 
once more left the restaurant. In the lobby she 
called Ferrani to her. 

“Has Mr. Fischer gone, Ferrani?’^ she asked. 

“ Not two minutes ago,” the man replied. “ You 
wish to speak to him? I can stop him even now.” 

She shook her head. 

“ On the contrary,” she said drily, “ Mr. Fischer 
represents a type of my countrymen of whom I am 
not very fond. He is a great patron of yours, is he 
not? ” 

“ He is a large shareholder in the company,” Fer- 
rani confessed. 

^ “ Then your restaurant will prosper,” she told 
him. “ Mr. Fischer has the name of being very for- 
tunate. , . . That was a wonderful luncheon you 
gave us to-day.” 

“ Madame is very kind.” 

“ Will you do me a favour? ” 

Fer rani’s gesture was all-expressive. Words 
were entirely superfluous. 

“ I want two addresses, please. First, the address 
of Joseph, your head musician, and, secondly, the 
address of Hassan, your cofFee-maker.” 

Ferrani effectually concealed any surprise he 
might have felt. He tore a page from his pocket- 
book. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 23 

Both I know,” he declared. “ Hassan lodges at 
a shop eighty yards away. The name is Haines, 
and there are newspaper placards outside the door.” 

That is quite enough,” Pamela murmured. 

“As for Monsieur Joseph,” Per rani continued, 
“ that is a different matter. He has, I understand, 
a small flat in Tower Mansions, Tower Street, lead- 
ing off the Edgware Road. The number is 18C. 
So!” 

He wrote it down and passed it to her. Pamela 
thanked him and stood up. 

“ Now that I have done as you asked me,” Fer- 
rani concluded, “ let me add a word. Both these 
men are already off duty and have left the restau- 
rant. If you wish to communicate with either of 
them, I advise you to do so by letter.” 

“ You are a very courteous gentleman, Mr. Fer- 
rani,” Pamela declared, dropping him a little mock 
curtsey, “ and good morning I ” 

She made her way into the street outside, shook 
her head to the commissionaire’s upraised whistle, 
and strolled along until she came to a cross street 
down which several motor-cars were waiting. She 
approached one — a very handsome limousine — and 
checked the driver who would have sprung from his 
seat. 

“ George,” she said, “ I am going to pay a call at 
a disreputable-looking news-shop, just where I am 
pointing. You can’t bring the car there, as the 
street is too narrow. You might follow me on foot 
and be about.” 

The young man touched his hat and obeyed. A 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


24 

few yards down the street Pamela found her destina- 
tion, and entered a gloomy little shop. A slatternly 
woman looked at her curiously from behind the coun- 
ter. 

“ I am told that Hassan lodges here, the coffee- 
maker from Henry’s,” Pamela began. 

The woman looked at her in a peculiar fashion. 

« Well.? ” 

“ I wish to see him.” 

“ You can’t, then,” was the curt answer. “ He’s 
at his prayers.” 

“ At what.? ” Pamela exclaimed. 

“ At his prayers,” the woman repeated brusquely. 
‘‘ There,” she added, throwing open the door which 
led into the premises behind, “ can’t you hear him, 
poor soul? He’s been pinching some more charms 
from ladies’ bracelets, or something of the sort, I 
reckon. He’s always in trouble. He goes on like 
this for an hour or so, and then he forgives him- 
self.” 

Pamela stood by the open door and listened — 
listened to a strange, wailing chant, which rose and 
fell with almost weird monotony. 

Very interesting,” she observed. ‘‘ I have heard 
that sort of thing before. Now will you kindly tell 
Hassan that I wish to speak to him, or shall I go 
and find him for myself? ” 

“ Well, you’ve got some brass ! ” the woman de- 
clared, with a sneer. 

“ And some gold,” Pamela assented, passing a 
pound note over to the woman. 

“ Do you want to see him alone .? ” the latter 


THE PAWNS COUNT 25 

asked, almost snatching at the note, but still regard- 
ing Pamela with distrustful curiosity, 

“ Of course,” was the calm reply. 

The woman opened her lips and closed them again, 
sniffed, and led the way down a short passage, at 
the end of which was a door. 

“ There you are,” she muttered, throwing it open. 
‘‘ You’ve arst for it, mind. ’Tain’t my busi- 
ness.” 

She slouched her way back again into the shop. 
At first Pamela could scarcely see anything except a 
dark figure on his knees before a closed and 
shrouded window. Then she saw Hassan rise to 
his feet, saw the glitter of his eyes. 

“ Pull up the blind, Hassan,” she directed. 

He came a step nearer to her. The gloom in the 
apartment was extraordinary. Only his shape and 
his eyes were visible. 

“ Do as I tell you,” she ordered. “ Pull up the 
blind. It will be better.” 

He hesitated. Then he obeyed. Even then the 
interior of the room seemed shadowy and obscure. 
Pamela could only see, in contrast with the rest of 
the house, that it was wonderfully and spotlessly 
clean. In one corner, barely concealed by a low 
screen, his bed stood upon the floor. Hassan mut- 
tered something in an Oriental tongue. Pamela in- 
terrupted him. She spoke in the soothing tone one 
uses towards a child. 

That’s all right, Hassan,” she said. “ Sorry to 
have interrupted you at your prayers, but it had to 
be done. You know me.^ ” 


26 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ Yes, mistress,” he answered unwillingly. “ I 
your dragoman one year in Cairo. What you want 
here, mistress.^ ” 

“ You know that I know,” she went on, ‘‘ that you 
are a Turk and a Mohammedan, and not an 
Egyptian at all.” 

“ Yes, mistress, you know that,” he muttered. 

“ And you also know,” she continued, ‘‘ that if ^ 
give you away to the authorities you will be sent 
at once to a very uncomfortable internment camp, 
where you won’t even have an opportunity to wash 
more than once a day, where you will have to herd 
with all sorts of people, who will make fun of your 
colour and your religion — ” 

“Don’t, mistress!” he shouted suddenly. “You 
will not tell. I think you will not tell I ” 

He was sidling a little towards her. Again one 
of those curious changes seemed to have transformed 
him from a dumb, passive creature into a savage. 
There was menace in his eyes. She waved him back 
without moving. 

“ I have come to make a bargain with you. Has- 
san,” she said, “ just a few words, that is all. Not 
quite so near, please.” 

He paused. There was a moment’s silence. His 
face was within a foot of hers, lowering, black, 
bestial. Her eyes met his without a tremor. Her 
full, sweet lips only curved into a faintly con- 
temptuous line. 

“ You cannot frighten me, Hassan,” she declared. 
“No man has ever done that. And outside I have 
a chauffeur with muscles of iron, who waits for me. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


27 

Be reasonable. Listen. There are secrets con- 
nected with your restaurant.” 

I know nothing,” he began at once ; “ nothing, 
mistress — nothing ! ” 

Quite naturally,” she continued. “ I only need 
one piece of information. A man disappeared there 
this morning. I just have to find him. That’s 
all there is about it. At half-past one he was in- 
veigled into the musicians’ room and by some means 
or other rendered unconscious. At three o’clock he 
had been removed. I want to know what became 
of him. You help me and the whole world can 
believe you to be an Egyptian for the rest of their 
lives. If you can’t help me it is rather unfortunate 
for you, because I shall tell the police at once 
who and what you are. Don’t waste time, Has- 
san.” 

He stood thinking, rubbing his hands and bowing 
before her, yet, as she knew very well, with murder 
in his heart. Once she saw his long fingers raised a 
little. 

‘‘ Quite useless, Hassan,” she warned him. “ They 
hang you in England, you know, for any little trifle 
such as you are thinking of. Be sensible, and I 
may even leave a few pound notes behind me.” 

“ Mistress should ask Joseph,” he muttered. “ I 
know nothing.” 

“Oh, mistress is going to ask Joseph all right,” 
she assured him, “but I want a little information 
from you, too. You’ve got to earn your freedom, 
you know, Hassan. Come, what do they do with 
the people who disappear from the restaurant ” 


28 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ Not understand,” was the almost piteous re- 
ply. 

Pamela sighed. She had again the air of one 
being patient with a child. 

“ See here, Hassan,” she went on, “ a few days 
ago I went over that restaurant from top to bottom 
with the manager. There is the musicians’ room, 
isn’t there, just over the entrance hall? I suppose 
those little glass places in the floor are movable, and 
then one can hear every word that is spoken below. 
I am right so far, am I not? ” 

Hassan answered nothing. His breathing, how- 
ever, had become a little deeper. 

“ An unsuspecting person, passing from the toilet 
rooms upstairs, could easily be induced to enter. I 
think that there must be another exit from that 
room. Yes? ” 

“ Yes ! ” Hassan faltered. 

« To where? ” 

‘‘ The wine-cellars.” 

“ And from there? ” 

Hassan was suddenly voluble. Truth unlocked 
his tongue. 

“Not know, mistress — not know another thing. 
No one enters wine-cellar but three men. One of 
those not know. If I guess — I, Hassan — I look at 
little chapel left standing in waste place. Perhaps 
I wonder sometimes, but I not know.” 

Pamela drew three notes from her gold purse, 
smoothed them out and handed them over. 

“ Three pounds, Hassan, silence, and good day ! 
You’ll live longer if you open your windows now and 


THE PAWNS COUNT 29 

then, and get a little fresh air, instead of praying 
yourself hoarse.” 

Again the black figure swayed perilously towards 
her. She affected not to notice, not to notice the 
hand which seemed for a moment as though it would 
snatch the door handle from her grasp. She passed 
out pleasantly and without haste. The last sound 
she heard was a groan. 

“Done your bit o’ business, eh?” the landlady 
asked curiously. 

Pamela nodded assent. 

“ Rather an odd sort of lodger for you, isn’t he? 

“ Not so odd as his visitors,” the woman retorted, 
with an evil sneer. 

Pamela passed into the narrow street and drew a 
long sigh of relief. Then she entered her car and 
gave the chauffeur an address from the slip of paper 
which she carried in her hand. When they stopped 
outside the little block of flats he prepared to follow 
her. 

“ Tough neighbourhood this, madam,” he said. 

“ Maybe, George,” she replied, waving him back, 
“ but you’ve got to stay down here. If the man I 
am going to see thought I was frightened of him I 
wouldn’t have a chance. If I am not down in half 
an hour you can try number 18C.” 

The chauffeur resumed his place on the driving- 
seat of the car. Pamela, heartily disliking her sur- 
roundings, was escorted by a shabby porter to a 
shabbier lift. 

“You’ll find Mr. Joseph in,” the lift boy assured 
her with a grin. 


30 THE PAWNS COUNT 

Pamela found the number at the end of an un- 
swept stone passage. At her third summons the 
door was cautiously opened by a large, repulsive- 
looking woman, with a mass of peroxidised hair. 
She stared at her visitor first in amazement, then in 
rapidly gathering resentment. 

“Mr. Joseph is at home,” she admitted trucu- 
lently, in response to Pamela’s inquiry. “ What 
might you be wanting with him ? ” 

“ If you will be so good as to let me in I will 
explain to Mr. Joseph,” Pamela replied. 

The woman seemed on the point of slamming the 
door. Suddenly there was a voice from behind her 
shoulder. Joseph appeared — not the smiling, joy- 
ous Joseph of Henry’s but a sullen-looking negro, 
dressed in shirt and trousers only, with a heavy 
under-lip and frowning forehead. 

“ Let the lady pass and get into the kitchen, 
Nora,” he ordered. “ Come this way, mam.” 

Pamela followed her guide into a parlour, redolent 
of stale cigar smoke, with oilcloth on the floor and 
varnished walls, an abode even more horrible than 
Hassan’s lair. Joseph closed the door carefully 
behind him, and made no apology for his dishabille. 
He simply faced Pamela. 

“ Say, what is it you want with me ? ” he demanded 
truculently. 

“ A trifle,” she answered. “ The key of the 
chapel in the little plot of waste ground next 
Henry’s.” 

She meant him to be staggered, and he was. He 
reeled back for a moment. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


31 

“What the hell are you talking about?” he 
gasped. 

“ Facts,” Pamela replied. “ Do you want to save 
yourself, Joseph? You can do it if you choose.” 

He folded his arms and stood in front of the closed 
door. Without a collar, his neck bulged unpleas- 
antly behind. There was nothing whatever left of 
the suave and genial chef d’orchestra. 

“Save myself from what, eh? Just let me get 
wise about it.” 

Pamela’s eyebrows were daintily elevated. 

“ Dear me ! ” she murmured. “ I thought 3mu 
were more intelligent. Listen. You know where 
we met last? Let me remind you. You were play- 
ing in the Winter Garden at Berlin, and the gentle- 
man whom I was with, an attache at the American 
Embassy, spoke to you. He told me a good deal 
about your past life, Joseph, and your present one. 
You are in the pay of the Secret Service of Germany. 
Am I to go to Scotland Yard and tell them 
so ? ” 

He looked at her wickedly. 

“ You’d have to get out of here first.” 

“ Don’t be silly,” she advised him contemptuously. 
“Remember you’re talking to an American woman 
and don’t waste your breath. You can be in the 
Secret Service of any country you like, without in- 
terference from me. On the other hand, there’s 
just one thing I want from you.” 

“ What is it ? I haven’t got any key.” 

“ I want to discover exactly what has become of 
Captain Graham,” she declared. 


32 THE PAWNS COUNT 

‘‘ What, the guy that missed his lunch to-day ? ” 
he growled. 

“ I see you know all about it,” she continued 
equably. 

“ So he’s your spark, is he? ” Joseph observed 
slowly, his eyes blinking as he leaned a little for- 
ward. 

“ On the contrary,” Pamela replied, “ I have 
never met him. However, that’s beside the point. 
Do I have the key of that chapel? ” 

“ You do not.” 

‘‘Have you got it?” 

“ Right here,” Joseph assented, dangling it before 
her eyes. 

“ I think it’s a fair bargain I’m offering you,” she 
reminded him. “ You lose the key and keep your 
place. You only have to keep your mouth shut and 
nothing happens.” 

“ Nothing doing,” the negro declared shortly. 
“ Keys as important as this ain’t lost. If I part 
with it, I get the chuck, and I probably get into the 
same mess as the others. If I keep it — ” 

“ If you keep it,” Pamela interrupted, “ you will 
probably stand with your back to the light in the 
Tower within the next few days. They’ve left off 
being lenient with spies over here.” 

He looked at her, and there were things in his e3’^es 
which few women in the world could have seen with- 
out terror. Pamela’s lips only came a little closer 
together. She pressed the inside of the ring upon 
her third finger, and a ray of green fire seemed to 
shoot forward. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


33 

‘‘ I guess I’m up against it,” he growled, taking a 
step forward. “ I’ll have something of what’s 
coming to me, if I swing for it.” 

His arm was suddenly around her, his face 
hideously close. He gave a little snarl as he felt the 
pinprick through his shirt sleeve. Then he went 
spinning round and round with his hand to his head. 

“ What in God’s name ! ” he spluttered. “ What 
in hell—!” 

He reeled against the horsehair easy-chair and 
slipped on to the floor. Pamela calmly closed her 
ring, stooped over him, withdrew the key from his 
pocket, crossed the room and the dingy little hall 
with swift footsteps, and, without waiting for the 
lift, fled down the stone steps. Before she reached 
the bottom, she heard the shrill ringing of the lift 
bell, the angry shouting of the woman. Pamela, 
however, strolled quietly out and took her place in 
the car. 

“ Back to the hotel, George,” she directed the 
chauffeur. “ Don’t stop if they call to you from the 
flats.” 

The young man sprang up to his seat and the car 
glided off. Pamela leaned forward and looked at 
herself in the mirror. There was a shade more 
colour in her face, perhaps, than usual, but her low 
weaves of chestnut hair were unruffled. She used 
her powder puff with attentive skill and leaned back. 

“ That’s the disagreeable part of it over, any- 
way,” she sighed to herself contentedly. 


CHAPTER IV 


The last of the supper-guests had left Henry’s 
Restaurant, the commissionaire’s whistle was silent. 
The light laughter and frivolous adieux of the 
departing guests seemed to have melted away into a 
world somewhere beyond the pale of the unseasonable 
fog. The little strip of waste ground adjoining was 
wrapped in gloom and silence. The exterior of the 
bare and deserted chapel, long since unconsecrate, 
was dull and lifeless. Inside, however, began the 
march of strange things. First of all, the pinprick 
of light of a tiny electric torch seemed as though it 
had risen from the floor, and Hassan, pushing back 
a trap-door, stepped into the bare, dusty conventicle. 
He listened for a moment, then made a tour of the 
windows, touched a spring in the wall, and drew 
down long, thick blinds. Afterwards he passed be- 
tween the row of dilapidated benches and paused at 
the entrance door. He stooped down, examined the 
keyless lock, shook it gently, gazed upwards and 
downwards as though in vain search of bolts that 
were never there. His white teeth gleamed for a 
moment in the darkness. He turned away with a 
little shiver. 

Not my fault,” he muttered to himself. ‘‘Not 
my fault.” 

He listened for a moment intently, as though for 


THE PAWNS COUNT 35 

footsteps outside. The disturbance, however, came 
from the other end of the building. There was a 
sharp knocking from the trap-door by which he had 
ascended. He touched an electric knob. The place 
was dimly yet sufficiently illuminated. He hastened 
towards the further end of the place and pulled up 
the trap-door. A melancholy-looking little proces- 
sion slowly emerged. First of all came Joseph, step- 
ping backwards, supporting the head and shoulders 
of Graham, still bound and gagged. After him 
came a dark, swarthy-faced wine waiter, who sup- 
ported Graham’s feet. Behind followed Fischer, 
carrying his silk hat and cane in his hand. He 
paused for a moment as he stepped on the floor of 
the chapel, and brushed the dust from his trousers. 

“ You can take out the gag now,” he ordered the 
two men. “ There isn’t much shout in him.” 

They laid him upon a couch, and Joseph obeyed 
the order. Graham’s head swung helplessly on one 
side. His eyes opened, however, and he struggled 
for consciousness. His lips twitched for a moment. 
In these long hours he had almost forgotten the habit 
of speech. The words, when they came, sounded 
strange to him, 

“ What — where am I ? What do you want with 
B>e?” 

Fischer laid his hat and stick upon a table, on 
which also stood a telephone instrument. 

“ The formula, my young friend,” he replied, “ for 
that wonderful explosive of which you spoke in the 
lobby.” 

A sudden accession of nervous strength brought 


36 THE PAWNS COUNT 

something almost like passion into the young man's 
reply, although to himself there still seemed some 
unreality in the words which might have come from 
the walls or the roof — surely not from his lips. 

‘‘ I’ll see you damned first ! ” 

Fischer smiled. The man was good-looking, in 
his way, but this was a pale and ugly smile. 

“ My request was merely a matter of courtesy,” 
he remarked. “ The difficulty of searching you is 
not formidable. It would have been undertaken 
long ago but for the fact that the restaurant has 
been crowded and gags sometimes slip. Besides, 
there was no hurry. Observe ! ” 

He leaned over Graham, who for the first time 
struggled furiously but ineffectually with his bonds, 
Flis fingers all the time were straining towards the 
inside pocket of his coat. Fischer nodded under- 
standingly. 

“ Allow me to anticipate you,” he said. 

With a quick thrust he drew a little handful of 
papers from the pocket of his captive. One by one 
he glanced them through and flung them on to the 
floor. As he came towards the end of his search, 
however, his expression of confident complacency 
vanished. His lips shrivelled up a little, his eyes 
narrowed. The last folded sheet of paper — a little 
perfumed note from Peggy, thanking Sandy for his 
beautiful roses — he crumpled fiercely into a little 
ball. He opened his lips to speak, then he paused. 
A new light broke in upon him. The fury had 
passed from Sandy Graham’s face. In its stead 
there was an expression of blank astonishment. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


37 

‘‘ Where is the formula? ” Fischer asked fiercely. 

There was no reply. Sandy Graham was still 
staring at the little pile of papers upon the floor. 
Fischer made a brief examination of the other pock- 
ets. Then he stepped back. His voice shook, his 
face was dark and malevolent. 

“Joseph, Hassan, Jules — listen to me!” he or- 
dered. “ Did any one else enter the musicians’ room 
whilst he was lying in the alcove? ” 

“ Impossible ! ” Jules declared. 

“ The door was locked,” Hassan murmured. 

“ Stop I ” Joseph exclaimed. 

Fischer wheeled round upon him. 

“ Well? ” he exclaimed. “ Get on, then. Who? ” 

Joseph moistened his lips. He was still feeling 
sore and dizzy, but he began to see his way. 

“ You noticed, perhaps,” he said, “ the American 
girl — the beautiful young lady with this guy’s 
friends? She was waiting with the others for Cap- 
tain Graham to come down. I saw her go up the 
stairs. I saw her come down again, three minutes 
later.” 

“Miss Van Teyl?” Fischer exclaimed, with a 
frown. “ You’re mad, Joseph ! ” 

The negro laughed grimly. 

“Am I!” he retorted. “ I tell you this. Master 
Fischer. She was in Berlin where I was, and she 
was at the Embassy every day. She was asked to 
leave there. They put her over the frontier into 
Holland. I knew her when she came into the res- 
taurant. She’s no society young lady, she ain’t! 
Bet you she was on to the goods.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


38 

Fischer hesitated for a moment. The thoughts 
were chasing one another through his brain. Then 
he took up the receiver from the telephone instrument 
which stood upon the table. 

“ 1560 Mayfair,” he asked in a low tone. 

They all stood listening, grouped around Gra- 
ham’s writhing figure. 

‘‘Hullo! Is that Claridge’s Hotel?” Fischer 
went on. “ I am speaking from Giro’s. Put me 
through, if you please, to Miss Van Teyl’s apart- 
ments. . . What? Repeat that, will you? . . . 
Thank you.” 

Fischer laid down the receiver. He turned to- 
wards the others. Fie was breathing a little quickly, 
and his eyes glittered behind his gold-rimmed spec- 
tacles. 

“ Miss Van Teyl,” he announced, “ has left for 
Tilbury. She is going out on the Lapland this 
morning. My God, she’s got the formula 1 ” 

There was a moment’s silence. Joseph was stand- 
ing by with a wicked look on his face. 

“ I saw her slip away,” he muttered, “ and I 
watched her come down again. There was just 
, time.” 

Fischer turned suddenly to where Graham was 
lying. Fie drew a sheet of writing paper from the 
rack upon the table, and a pencil from his pocket. 
There was an evil and concentrated significance in 
his tone. 

“ That formula,” he said, “ can be written again. 
I think you had better write it.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


39 

“ I’ll see jou damned first ! ” was the weak but 
prompt reply. 

Fischer bent a little lower over the prostrate 
figure. Look here,” he went on, “ we don’t run 
risks like this for nothing. You’re better dead than 
alive, so far as we are concerned, anyway. We’d 
planned to take the formula from you, and you can 
guess the rest. There are cellars underneath here 
into which no one ever goes who matters. Now 
here’s a chance of life for you. Write down that 
formula — truthfully, mind — and we’ll discuss the 
matter of taking your parole.” 

“ See you damned first ! ” Graham repeated, his 
voice a little more tremulous but still convincing. 

Fischer stood upright and turned to Jules. 

“ Get a bottle of brandy and a glass,” he ordered. 

The man pushed open the trap-door and disap- 
peared. He came back again in a few moments, 
with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other. 
Fischer poured out some of the cordial and drew a 
small table up to Graham’s side. 

“ There,” he said, loosening the cord around his 
left wrist, drink that, and think it over. We shall 
be gone for about ten minutes. If you change your 
mind before, ring that little hand-bell. If you have 
not changed your mind when we return, it will be 
the cellars.” 

‘‘ Beasts ! ” Graham muttered. 

Fischer shrugged his shoulders. For a moment 
he had straightened himself. His face had softened, 
but it was in tune with his thoughts. 


40 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ I would twist the necks of a million fools like 
you,” he said, “ for the sake of — ” 

He paused, leaving his sentence uncompleted, and 
beckoned to the other men. They followed him 
through the trap-door and down into the cellars 
below. The place was once more silent. Graham 
rolled from side to side, drew a long breath, and 
tugged vainly at his bonds. The effort overtaxed 
his strength. He seemed to feel the darkness closing 
in upon him, the rushing of the sea in his ears. . . 


CHAPTER V 


So far as Sandy Graham was concerned, his un- 
consciousness might have lasted an hour or a day. 
As a matter of fact, it was scarcely a minute after 
the disappearance of Fischer and his confederates 
when he was conscious of a rush of cold air in the 
place, and beheld the vision of a tiny flash of light 
at the lower end of the gloomy building. Imme- 
diately afterwards he heard the soft closing of a 
door and beheld a tall, shadowy figure slowly 
approaching. He lay quite still and looked at it, 
and his heart began to beat with hope. One of the 
lights had been left burning, and there was some- 
thing in the bearing and attitude of the man who 
finally came to a standstill by his side, which was 
entirely reassuring. 

“ Lutchester ! he faltered. “ My God, how did 
you get here ? ” 

Offices of a young lady,” Lutchester observed, 
producing a knife from his pocket, “ Allow me ! ” 

He cut the cords which still secured Graham’s 
limbs. Then he looked around him. 

“How did they bring you here?” he whispered. 
“ I suppose there is a passage from the restaurant ? ” 

“Up through a trapdoor there,” Graham ex- 
plained, pointing. 

Lutchester stood over it and listened intently. 


42 THE PAWNS COUNT 

Then he turned around, lifted the glass of brandy 
from the table, smelt it approvingly, and tasted it. 

‘‘ Excellent ! ” he pronounced. “ The 1840. 
Allow me ! ” 

He refilled the glass and handed it to Sandy, who 
gulped down the contents. The effect was almost 
instantaneous. In less than a minute he had 
staggered to his feet. 

“ Feel strong enough to walk about fifty yards? ” 
Lutchester inquired. 

“ I’d walk to hell to get out of this place ! ” was 
the prompt reply. 

Lutchester took his arm, and they passed down 
the dusty aisle between the worm-eaten and decaying 
benches and through the outside door, which Lut- 
chester closed and locked behind them. The rush 
of cold air was like new life to Graham. 

“ I can walk all right now,” he muttered. “ My 
God, we’ll give these fellows hell for this ! ” 

They made their very difficult way across a plot 
of ground from which a row of dilapidated cottages 
had been razed to the ground. The fog still hung 
around them and seemed to bring with it a curious 
silence, although the dying traffic from one of the 
main thoroughfares reached them in muffled notes. 
Lutchester climbed to the top of a pile of rubbish 
and then, turning around, held out his hand. 

“ Up here,” he directed. 

Graham struggled up until he stood by his com- 
panion’s side. The latter stood quite still, listening 
for a moment. Then he climbed a little higher and 
swung around, holding out his hand once more. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


43 

I’m on top of the wall,” he said. “ Come 

on.” 

Graham’s knees were shaking, but with Lut- 
chester’s help he staggered up and reached his side. 
On the pavement below a man in chauffeur’s livery 
was standing, holding out his hands, and by the 
side of the curbstone a closed car was waiting. 
Somehow or other the two reached the pavement. 
Lutchester almost pushed his companion into the 
limousine and stepped in after him. The chauffeur 
sprang to his seat and the car glided off. Graham 
just realised that there was a woman by his side 
whose face was vaguely familiar. Then the waves 
broke in upon his ears once more. 

I was right, then, it seems,” Pamela observed 
approvingly. “ You were iust the man for this 
little affair.” 

Lutchester sighed. 

‘‘ Unfortunately,” he confessed, “ a messenger boy 
would have been as effective. I stumbled over to the 
chapel — rubber shoes, you observe,” he remarked, 
pointing downwards — ‘‘ and sooii discovered that 
blinds had been let down all round and that there 
were people inside. There was just a faint chink in 
one, and I caught a glimpse of several men, your 
friend Oscar amongst them. Having,” he went on, 
‘‘ an immense regard for my personal safety, I was 
hesitating what means to adopt when the lights were 
lowered, and it seemed to me that the men were 
disappearing.” 

“ Do go on,” Pamela murmured. ‘‘ This is most 
exciting.” 


44 THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ In a sense it was disappointing,” Lutchester 
complained. “ I had pictured for myself a dramatic 
entrance ... a quiet turning of the key, a soft 
approach — owing to my shoes,” he reminded her — 
“ a cough, perhaps, or a breath . . . discovery, 
me with a revolver in my hand pointed to the arch- 
villain — ‘ If you stir you’re a dead man ! ’ . . . 
Natural collapse of the villain. With my left hand 
I slash the bonds which hold Graham, with my right 
I cover the miscreants. One of them, perhaps, 
might creep behind me, and I hesitate. If I move 
my revolver the other two will get the drop on me — 
I think that is the correct expression? A wonderful 
moment, that. Miss Van Teyl! ” 

“ But it didn’t happen,” she protested. 

“ Ah ! I forgot that,” he acknowledged. ‘‘ Still, 
I was prepared. I had the revolver all right. But 
as you say, it didn’t happen. I made my way to the 
chapel door, let myself in, found our friend lying in 
a half-comatose state upon one of the blue plush 
Henry sofas, in the shadow of a horrible deal pulpit. 
I gathered that he had been left there to reflect upon 
his sins. There was a bottle of remarkably fine 
brandy within reach, which I tested, and with which 
I dosed our friend here. I then cut away his bonds, 
arm in arm we walked down the aisle, I locked up 
the place, threw the key away, kicked my shins half- 
a-dozen times crossing that disgusting little plot of 
land, climbed boldly to the top of the wall, and 
behold!” 

Pamela smiled upon him in congratulatory 
fashion. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


45 


“ On the whole,” she said, “ I am quite glad that I 
telephoned to you.” 

“ You showed a sound discretion,” he admitted. 

‘‘ If he had not been lame,” she confessed, “ I 
should have sent to Captain Holderness.” 

“ That would have been a great mistake,” Lut- 
chester assured her. “ Holderness is a good fellow 
but devoid of imagination. He is great on consti- 
tuted authority. He would have probably marched 
up with a squad of heavy-footed policemen — and 
found nothing.” 

“ Yet I must confess,” Pamela persisted, with a 
frankness unaccountable even to herself, “ that if I 
could have thought of any one else I should never 
have telephoned to you.” 

“ And why not? ” 

‘‘ Because I should not have classified you as being 
of the adventurous type,” she declared. 

Lutchester looked injured. 

‘‘ After all,” he protested, that is not my fault. 
That is due to your singular lack of perception. 
However, I am able to return the compliment. I, 
for my part, should have thought that you were 
more interested in the fashions than in paying exceed- 
ingly rash visits to degenerate orientals and negroes.” 

“ Perhaps some day,” she remarked, “ we may 
understand one another better.” 

He met her gaze with a certain seriousness. 

‘‘ I hope that we may,” he said. 

For some reason they were both silmt for a 
moment. Her tone had changed a little when ske 
spoke again. 


46 THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ You are sure,” she asked, “ th*at you do not mind 
my leaving the rest of this affair in your hands? 
There are reasons, which I cannot tell you of just 
now, which make me anxious not to appear in it 
at all.” 

“ I accept the charge as a privilege,” he assented. 
“We are within a few yards of my rooms now. I 
promise you that I will look after Captain Graham 
and advise him as to the proper course for him to 
pursue.” 

The car came to a standstill. 

“ This then,” she said, holding out her hand, “ will 
be good-by for the present.” 

He held her fingers for a moment without reply. 
Quite suddenly she decided that she liked him. Then 
he lifted Graham, who was half asleep, half uncon- 
scious, to his feet, and assisted him from the car. 

“ Where shall I tell the man to go to ? ” he in- 
quired. 

“ He knows,” she answered with sudden tacitur- 
nity. 

“ Wherever it may be, then,” he replied, “ bon 
voyage ! ” 


I 


CHAPTER VI 

It was about half-an-hour later when Sandy 
Graham opened his eyes and began to feel the life 
once more warm in his veins. He was seated in the 
most comfortable easy-chair of John Lutchester’s 
bachelor sitting-room. By his side was a coffee 
equipage and a decanter of brandy. His head 
still throbbed, and his bones ached, but his mind was 
beginning to grow clearer. Lutchester, who had 
been seated at the writing table, swung round in his 
chair at the sound of his guest’s movement. — 

“ Feeling better, eh ? ” he asked. 

I am all right now,” was the somewhat shaky 
reply. “ Got a head like a turnip and a tongue like 
a lime-kiln, but I’m beginning — to feel myself.” 

‘‘ How’s your memory? ” 

‘‘ Hazy. Let me see. . . . My God, I’ve been 
robbed, haven’t I ! ” 

“So I imagine,” Lutchester replied. “You 
rather asked for it, didn’t you? ” 

Graham moved uneasily in his place. He had 
suddenly the feeling of being back at school — and 
in the presence of the headmaster. 

“ I suppose I did in a way,” he admitted, “ but at 
Henry’s — why, I’ve always looked upon the place 
as a club more than anything else.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


48 

“ I am afraid that I can’t agree with you there, 
Lutchester observed. “ I should consider Henry’s 
a remarkably cosmopolitan restaurant, where a man 
in your position should exercise more than even 
ordinary" restraint.” 

“ I suppose I was wrong,” Graham muttered, 
‘‘ but I had been working for about ten hours on 
end, and then rushed up to London in the car to 
try and keep my appointment with Holdemess.” 

“ Stop anywhere on the way.^ ” 

“ We had a few drinks,” Graham confessed. “ I 
was so done up. Perhaps I had more than I meant 
to. However, it’s no use bothering about that now. 
I’ve been robbed, and that’s all there is about it. 
Could we get on to Scotland Yard from here? ” 

“We could, but I don’t think we will,” Lutchester 
replied. 

Graham was puzzled. 

“ Why not? ” he demanded. “ That formula was 
the most wonderful thing that has ever been put 
together, and the whole thing’s so simple. I’ve 
been afraid every second that some one else might 
stumble upon it.” 

“ It is without doubt a great loss,” Lutchester 
admitted. “ All the same, I don’t fancy that it’s a 
Scotland Yard business exactly. Have you any 
idea who robbed you? ” 

Graham paused to think. His eyes were still 
troubled and uncertain. 

“ It’s coming back to me,” he muttered. “ I 
remember that beastly bam of a chapel. There 
were Jules, and that musician fellow, and the big 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


49 


American. He emptied my pockets. . . . Why, 
of course, I remember how angry he was. . . . My 
pocketbook was gone ! They left me alone to 
write out the formula again, and then you came. 
. . . How on earth did you tumble on to my being 
there, Lutchester.^ ” 

“ It was Miss Pamela Van Teyl whom you must 
thank,” Lutchester told him, not me. It seems 
she knew more about Henry’s than any of us. 
She’d come up against some of the crew in Berlin, 
and she guessed they were holding you for that 
formula. She got the key out of one of those men 
and then telephoned to me for my help.” 

“ And I never even thanked her,” Graham mur- 
mured weakly. 

There was a moment’s silence. The recovering 
man’s consciousness of his position and of events 
was evidently as yet incomplete. He sat up sud- 
denly in his chair, gripping the sides of it. His 
eyes were large with reminiscent trouble. 

My pocketbook had gone when they searched 
me,” he muttered. 

“ Are you sure that you had it with you when 
you came into Henry’s ? ” Lutchester inquired. 

‘‘ Absolutely certain.” 

Do you think you can remember now what hap- 
pened when you went upstairs ? ” 

“ I reached the lavatory all right — you were with 
me then, weren’t you.?” Graham said reflectively. 
‘‘ I hung up my coat while I washed, but there was 
no one else in the room. Then you went downstairs 
and I brushed my hair and just stopped to light a 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


50 

cigarette. You know that on the right-hand side 
of the landing there is a room where the musicians 
change. Joseph, that black devil, was standing in 
the doorway. He grinned as I came into sight. 
‘ Lady wants to speak to you for a moment. Captain 
Graham,’ he said. Well, you know how harmless 
the fellow looks — just a good-natured, smiling 
nigger. I never dreamed of anything wrong. As 
a matter of fact, I thought that Peggy Vincent — 
that’s a young lady I often go to Henry’s with — 
wanted to have a word with me before I joined our 
party. I stepped inside the room, and that’s just 
about all I can remember. It must have been jolly 
quick. His arm shot round my neck, the door was 
closed, and that other brute — Hassan, I think it 
was — held something over my face.” 

“ But that room was searched,” Lutchester re- 
minded him. 

“ Well I came to just a little,” Graham explained, 
“ I found that I was in a sort of cupboard place, 
behind the lockers these fellows have for their 
clothes. It opens with a spring lock, and you’d 
never notice it, searching the room.” 

“ Who was the first person you saw when you 
recovered consciousness ? ” 

Graham’s forehead was wrinkled in the effort to 
remember. 

“ I can’t quite get hold of it,” he confessed, “ but 
I have a sort of fancy I can’t altogether get rid of 
that there was a woman about.” 

Lutchester looked at the end of the cigarette he 
had just lit. 


51 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

‘‘ A woman? ” he repeated. “ That’s queer.” 

“ I can’t remember anything definitely until I 
woke up in that chapel,” Graham continued, “ but 
when they searched me and found that the pocket- 
book had gone, Fischer, the big American, muttered 
some woman’s name. I was queer just at the 
moment, but it sounded very much to me like 
Miss Van Teyl’s. He rang her up on the tele- 
phone.” 

“ Did they suspect Miss Van Teyl, then, of having 
taken your pocketbook?” 

Graham shook his head. 

“ I lost the drift of things just then,” he admitted. 

She couldn’t have done, in any case. Forgive me, 
but aren’t we wasting time, Mr. Lutchester? We 
must do something. Couldn’t you ring up Scotland 
Yard now? ” 

“ I certainly could,” Lutchester assented, “ but, 
as I told you just now, I don’t think that I 
wiU.” 

Graham stared at him. 

“ But why not? ” 

For certain very definite reasons with which you 
needn’t trouble yourself just now,” Lutchester pro- 
nounced. “ The formula has gone, without a doubt, 
but it certainly isn’t in the hands of any of the 
people at Henry’s.” 

‘‘ But there’s that American fellow — Fischer ! ” 
Graham exclaimed. “ He was the ringleader ! ” 

‘‘ Just so,” Lutchester murmured thoughtfully. 

However, he hasn’t got the formula.” 

“ But he planned the attack upon me,” Graham 


52 THE PAWNS COUNT 

protested. “ He is an enemy — a German — shel- 
tering himself under his American naturalization. 
Surely we’re going for him.'^ ” 

“ He’s a wrong ’un, of course,” Lutchester ad- 
mitted, “ but he hasn’t got the formula.” 

“ But we must do something! ” Graham continued, 
his anger rising as his strength returned. “ Why, 
the place is a perfect den of conspirators ! I expect 
Ferrani himself is in it, and there’s that other maitre 
d’hotel, Jules, and those black beasts, Joseph and 
Hassan, besides Fischer. My God, they shall pay 
for this ! ” 

Lutchester nodded. 

“ I dare say they will,” he admitted, “ but not 
quite in the way you are thinking of.” 

Graham half rose to his feet. 

‘‘ Look here,” he said, “ I’m sane enough now, 
aren’t I, and in my proper senses? You are not 
going to suggest that we don’t turn the police on to 
that damned place? ” 

“ I certainly am,” was the brief reply. 

Graham was aghast. 

“ What do you mean to do, then? ” 

“ Leave them alone for the present. Not one of 
them has the formula. Not one of them even knows 
where it is.” 

“ But the attack upon me ? ” 

“ You asked for all you got,” Lutchester told him 
curtly, “ and perhaps a little more.” 

The first tinge of colour came back to Graham’s 
cheeks. His eyes flashed with anger. 

“ Perhaps I did,” he admitted, “ but that doesn’t 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


53 

alter the fact that I’m going to have some of my 
own back out of them.” 

Lutchester crossed his legs and turned round in 
his chair. For the first time he directly faced his 
visitor. His tone, though not unkindly, was im- 
perative. 

“ Young fellow,” he said, “ you’ll have to listen to 
me about this.” 

A smouldering sense of revolt suddenly found 
words. 

“ Listen to you ? What the devil have you got to 
do with it.? ” Graham demanded. 

“ I hate to remind any one of an obligation,” 
Lutchester answered, ‘‘ but I am under the impres- 
sion that, together with Miss Van Teyl, of course, 
I rescued you from an exceedingly inconvenient 
situation.” 

I haven’t had time yet to tell you how grateful 
I am,” Graham said awkwardly. “You were a 
brick, of course, and how you and Miss Van Teyl 
tumbled on to the whole thing I can’t imagine. 
But I don’t understand what you’re getting at 
now. You can’t suggest that I am to leave these 
fellows alone and not give information to the 
police.? ” 

“ The character of the place,” Lutchester assured 
him, “ is already perfectly well known to the heads 
of the police. The matter will be dealt with, but 
not in the way you suggest. And so far as regards 
Fischer, I do not wish him interfered with for the 
present.” 

“ You do not wish him interfered with? ” Graham 


54 THE PAWNS COUNT 

repeated. Where the devil do you come in at 
aU?” 

“ You can leave me out of the matter for the 
present. You want the formula back, don’t you? ” 

“ My God, yes ! ” Graham muttered fervently. 
“ It’s all very well to give one a pencil and a piece 
of paper and say ‘ Write it out,’ but there are cal- 
culations and proportions — 

“Precisely,” Lutchester interrupted. “You 
want it back again. Why not let Fischer do the 
business? He has an idea where it’s gone. The 
thing to do seems to me to follow him.” 

“To follow Fischer?” Graham repeated vaguely. 

“ Precisely. If he thinks the formula is in Eng- 
land, Fischer will stay in England. If he thinks 
that it has gone abroad he will go abroad. If we 
leave him free we can watch which he does.” 

Graham swallowed half a wineglassful of the 
brandy by his side. Then he leaned forward. 

“ Look here,” he said, “ you’ll forgive me if I re- 
peat myself and ask you once more — what the hell 
has all this got to do with you ? ” 

“ Just this much,” Lutchester replied, “ that I in- 
sist upon your taking the course of action in this 
matter which I propose.” 

“ You mean,” Graham protested, working himself 
gradually into a state of wrath, “ that I am to go 
back to my rooms as though nothing had happened, 
see Holderness and the others to-morrow, and not 
have a word of explanation to offer? That I am to 
leave those blackguards at Henry’s to try their dirty 
games on some one else, and let Fischer, the man 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


55 

who was fully inclined to become my murderer, go 
away unharmed? I think not, Mr. Lutchester. I 
am much obliged for your help, but you are talking 
piffle.” 

“ What do you propose to do, then? ” 

“ I am going round to Scotland Yard myself.” 

Lutchester rose to his feet. 

‘‘ Stay where you are for a minute, please,” he 
begged. 

He passed into a smaller room, and Graham could 
hear faintly the sound of the telephone. In- a min- 
ute or two his host returned. 

“ Go in there and speak, Graham,” he invited. 

You will find some one you know at the other end.” 

Graham did as he was bidden, and Lutchester 
closed the door after him. For a few minutes the 
latter sat in his chair, smoking quietly, his eyes fixed 
upon the fire. Then his unwilling guest reappeared. 
He came into the room a little unsteadily and looked 
with new eyes at the man who seemed so unaccount- 
ably to have taken over the control of his affairs. 

‘‘ I don’t understand all this,” he muttered. 
“ Who the devil are you, anyway, Lutchester? ” 

“ A very ordinary person, I can assure you,” was 
the quiet reply. “ However, you are satisfied, I sup- 
pose, that my advice is good ? ” 

“ Yes, I am satisfied,” Graham answered nerv- 
ously. ‘‘You know that — that I’m under ar- 
rest? ” 

Lutchester nodded. 

“ Well, you’re not asking for my sympathy, I sup- 
pose ? ” he observed drily. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


56 

The young man flushed. 

“ I know that I behaved like a fool,” he admitted. 
“ All the same, I’ve been working night and day for 
weeks on this problem. I haven’t even been up to 
town once. I must say I think they seem inclined 
to be a little hard on me.” 

“No one is going to be in the least hard on you,” 
Lut Chester assured him. “ You have committed a 
frightful indiscretion, and all that is asked of you 
now is to keep your mouth shut. If you do that, I 
think a way will be found for you out of your 
troubles.” 

“ But what is to become of me ? ” Graham 
demanded. 

“ I understand that you are to be taken to North- 
umberland to-morrow,” Lutchester informed him. 
“ There you will be allowed every facility for fresh 
experiments. In the meantime, I have promised to 
give you a shakedown here for the night. You will 
find a soldier on guard outside your door, but you 
can treat him as your servant.” 

“ You are very kind,” Graham faltered, a little 
vaguely. “ If only I could understand — ” 

Lutchester rose to his feet. His manner became 
more serious, his tone had in it a note of final- 

ity- 

“ Captain Graham,” he interrupted, “ don’t try 
to understand. I will tell you as much as this, if it 
helps you. Henry’s Restaurant will be placed un- 
der the closest surveillance, but we wish nothing dis- 
turbed there at the moment until we have discovered 
the future plans of Mr. Oscar Fischer.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


57 

The big German-American,” Graham muttered. 
‘‘ He’s the man you ought to get hold of.” 

“ Some da<y I hope that we may,” Lutchester de- 
clared. “ For the moment, however, we want him 
undisturbed. You would scarcely believe it, per- 
haps, if I told you that the theft of your formulas 
is only a slight thing compared to the bigger busi- 
ness that man has on hand. There is something else 
at the back of his head which is worth heaven and 
earth to us to understand. We want the formula 
and we shall have it, but more than anything else in 
the world we want to know why Fischer has pledged 
his word in Berlin to bring this war to an end within 
three months. We have to find that out, and we are 
going to find it out — from him. You see, I have 
treated you with confidence. Captain Graham. 
Now let me show you to your room.” Graham put 
his hand to his forehead. 

“ I feel as though this were some sort of night- 
mare,” he muttered. “ I’ve known you for several 
months, Mr. Lutchester, and I have never heard you 
say a serious word. You dance at Henry’s; you 
made a good soldier, they said, but you’d had enough 
of it in twelve months ; you play auction bridge in 
the afternoons; and you talk about the war as 
though it were simply an irritating circumstance. 
And to-night — ” 

Lutchester threw open the door of his own bed- 
room and pointed to the bathroom beyond. 

“ My man has put out everything he thinks you 
may want,” he said. “ Try and get a good night’s 
sleep. And, Graham.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


58 

“ Yes?” 

“ Don’t bother your head about me, and don’t ask 
any more questions.” 


CHAPTER VII 


The Lapland was two days out from Tilbury be- 
fore Pamela appeared on deck, followed by her 
maid with an armful of cushions, and the deck 
steward with her rugs. She had scarcely made her- 
self comfortable in a sunny corner when she was 
aware of the approach of a large, familiar figure. 
Her astonishment was entirely genuine. 

“ Mr. Fischer ! ” she exclaimed. “ Why, how on 
earth did you catch this steamer.'^ I thought you 
were coming on the Thursday boat.? ” 

‘‘ Some inducement to change my mind,’^ Mr. 
Fischer replied, drawing a chair up to her side. 

“ Meaning me .? ” 

I guess that’s so ! ” 

“ Of course, I’m exceedingly flattered,” Pamela 
observed, “ or rather I should be if I believed you, 
but I don’t see how you could leave a supper-party 
at Henry’s and go straight to Tilbury.” 

“ Say, how did you know I was supping at 
Henry’s .? ” he inquired. 

Because I was there for luncheon myself, as you 
know,” she answered carelessly, ‘‘ and I heard you 
order your table for supper.” 

Mr. Fischer nodded reminiscently. 

“ I always wind up with a little supper at Henry’s, 


6o THE PAWNS COUNT 

on my last night in London,” he remarked. ‘‘ It left 
me two hours to get down to Tilbury, but it don’t 
take me long to start for anywhere when I once 
make up my mind. That’s the American of us, I 
suppose. Besides, I never need much in the w^ay 
of luggage. I keep clothes over on the other side 
and clothes in New York, and a grip always ready 
packed for a journey.” 

“ You’re so typical,” she murmured, smiling. 

“ I don’t know about that,” he replied. “ My 
business makes it necessary for me to be always on 
the go. Have you heard from your brother lately ? ” 

Pamela shook her head. 

Jimmy is the most terrible correspondent,” she 
complained. I don’t think I’ve had any mail from 
him for two months.” 

“ You didn’t know that he and I were sharing 
rooms together, then, in the Plaza Hotel, I sup- 
pose ? ” 

Pamela turned her head a little and gazed at her 
companion in genuine surprise. 

‘‘ Sharing rooms in the Plaza Hotel ? ” she re- 
peated. . . . “You and Jimmy 

“ I guess that’s so,” Mr. Fischer assented. “ We 
were doing business together one day, and the sub- 
ject cropped up somehow or other. Your brother 
was thinking of making a move, and I’d just been 
shown these rooms, which were a trifle on the large 
side for me. I made him an offer and he jumped 
at it.” 

“ I hope you’re not leading James into extrava- 
gant ways” she remarked anxiously. “ I loved his 


THE PAWNS COUNT 6i 

little apartment in Forty-Second Street and it was 
so inexpensive.” 

“ Your brother’s share of these rooms isn’t any- 
thing more than he can afford,” Mr. Fischer assured 
her. “ That I can promise you. I guess his firm is 
doing well just now. If they’ve many more clients 
like me they are.” 

‘‘ It is very nice of you to put business in his 
way,” Pamela said thoughtfully. “ I w^onder why 
you do it, Mr. Fischer.^ ” 

“ Why shouldn’t I? ” 

“ Well,” Pamela went on, her eyes travelling out 
seaward for a moment, “ you seem to be one of those 
sort of men, Mr. Fischer, who never do anything 
without an object.” 

“ Some powers of observation,” he admitted 
blithely. 

“ You have an object in being kind to Jimmy, 
then.? ” 

Mr. Fischer produced a cigar case and selected a 
cheroot. 

‘‘ Mind my smoking? ” 

“ Not in the least. The only time I mind things 
is when people don’t answer my questions.” 

“ I was only kind of hesitating,” Mr. Fischer went 
on, leaning back once more in his chair. “ You 
want the truth, don’t you? ” 

“ I never think anything else is worth while.” 

“ In the first place, then,” her companion began, 

your brother belongs to what I suppose is known 
as the exclusive set in New York. I am a Westerner 
with few friends there. Through him I have ob- 


62 THE PAWNS COUNT 

tained introductions to several people whom it was 
interesting to me, from a business point of view, to 
know.” 

I see,” Pamela murmured. You are at least 
frank, Mr. Fischer.” 

“ I am going to be more frank still,” he promised 
her. “ Then another reason, of course, was because 
I liked him, and a third, which I am not sure wasn’t 
the chief of all, because he was your brother.” 

Pamela laughed gaily. 

“ Is that necessary ? ” 

‘‘ Necessary or not, it’s the truth,” he assured her. 
‘‘ I am a man of quick impressions and lasting 
ones.” 

“ But we’ve never met except on a steamer,” 
Pamela reminded him. 

“ I know it’s the fashion,” Mr. Fischer said, “ to 
turn up one’s nose at steamer acquaintances. It 
isn’t like that with me. You see, I don’t have as 
much opportunity of meeting folk as some others, 
perhaps. The most interesting people I’ve known 
socially I’ve met on steamers. I sat at your table, 
side by side with you. Miss Van Teyl, for seven days 
a few months ago. I guess I’ll remember those 
seven days as long as I live.” 

Pamela turned her head and looked at him. The 
faintly derisive smile died away from her lips. The 
man was in earnest. A certain curiosity stole into 
her eyes as the seconds passed. She studied his 
hard, strong face, with its great jaw and prominent 
forehead; the mouth, a little too full, and belying 
the rest of his physiognomy, yet with its own pecul- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


63 

iar strength. He had taken off his spectacles, and 
it seemed to her that the cold, flinty light of his eyes 
had caught for a moment some touch of the softer 
blue of the sea or the sky. Seated, he lost some 
of the awkwardness of his too great and ill-carried 
height. It seemed to her that he was at least a 
person to be reckoned with, either in friendship or 
enmity. 

“ Are you an American born, Mr. Fischer, ” she 
asked him. 

He shook his head. 

I was born at Offenbach,” he told her, ‘‘ near 
Frankfurt. My father brought me out to America 
when I was eleven years old.” 

You must find the present condition of tilings a 
little trying for you,” she observed. 

Oscar Fischer put on his glasses again. He did 
not answer for several moments. 

“ That opens up a subject. Miss Van Teyl,” he 
said, “ which some day I should like to discuss with 
you.” 

“ Why not now ? ” she invited. “ I feel much more 
inclined for conversation than reading.” 

Tell me, then, to begin with,” he asked thought- 
fully, ‘‘ on which side are your sympathies ? ” 

“ I try to do my duty as an American citizen,” 
she replied promptly, and that is to have no sym- 
pathies. Our dear country has set the world an 
example of what neutrality should be. I think ifc 
is the duty of us Americans to try and bring our- 
selves into exactly the same line of feeling.” 

He changed his position a little uneasily. His 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


64 

attitude became less of a sprawl. His eyes were 
fixed upon her face. 

‘‘ I fear,” he said, “ that we are going to begin by 
a disagreement. I do not consider that America 
has realised in the least the duties of a neutral 
nation.” 

“ You must explain that at once, if you please, 
before we go any further,” Pamela insisted. 

“Is this neutrality?” Fischer demanded, his 
rather harsh voice almost raucous now with a touch 
of real feeling. “ America ships daily millions of 
dollars’ worth of those things that make war pos- 
sible, to France, to Italy, above all to England. 
She keeps them supplied with ammunition, clothing, 
scientific instruments, food — a dozen things which 
make war easier. To Germany she sends nothing. 
Is that neutrality ? ” 

“ But America is perfectly willing to deal in the 
same way with Germany,” Pamela pointed out. 
“ German agents can come and place their orders 
and take away whatever they want. The market 
is as much open to her as to the Allies.” 

Fischer was sitting bolt upright in his chair now. 
There was a little spot of colour in his cheeks and 
his eyes flashed behind his spectacles. He struck 
the side of the chair. He was very angry. 

“ That is Jesuitical,” he declared. “ It is per- 
fectly well-known that Germany is not in a position 
to fetch munitions from America. Therefore, I say 
that there is no neutrality in supplying one side in 
the war with goods which the other is unable to 
procure.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 65 

“ Then you place upon America the onus of Ger- 
many’s naval inferiority,” Pamela remarked drily. 

‘‘ Germany’s maritime inferiority does not exist,” 
Mr. Fischer protested. “ When the moment arrives 
that the High Seas fleet comes out for action the 
world will know the truth.” 

“ Then hadn’t it better come,” Pamela suggested, 
“ and clear the ocean for your commerce.^ ” 

‘‘ That isn’t the point,” Fischer insisted. “ We 
have wandered from the main issue. I say that 
America abandons its neutrality when it helps the 
Allies to continue the war.” 

“ I don’t think you will find,” Pamela replied, 
‘‘ that international law prevents any neutral coun- 
try from supplying either combatant with munitions. 
If one country can fetch the things and the other 
can’t, that is the misfortune of the country that 
can’t. For one moment look at the matter from 
England’s point of view. She has built up a mighty 
navy to keep the seas clear for exactly this purpose 
— to continue her commerce from abroad. Ger- 
many instead has built up a mighty army, with 
which she has overrun Europe. Germany has had 
the advantage from her army. Why shouldn’t Eng- 
land have the advantage from her navy? ” 

“ Let me ask you the question you asked me a 
few minutes ago,” her companion begged. “ Were 
you born in America — or England?” 

“ I was born in America,” Pamela told him ; “ so 
were my parents and my grandparents. I claim 
to be American to the backbone. I claim even to 
treat any sympathies I might have in this affair as 


66 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


prejudices, and not even to allow them a single cor- 
ner in my brain.” 

Mr. Fischer sat quite still for several moments. 
He was struggling very hard to keep his temper. 
In the end he succeeded. 

‘‘ We will not, then, pursue the subject of Amer- 
ica’s neutrality,” he said, “ because it is obvious 
that we disagree fundamentally. But tell me this, 
now, as an American and a patriot. Which do you 
think would be better for America — That Germany 
and Austria won this war, or the Allies ? ” 

Upon that question I have not altogether made 
up my mind,” Pamela confessed. 

“ Then there is room there for a discussion,” Mr. 
Fischer pointed out eagerly. “ I should like to put 
my views before you on this matter.” 

“ And I should love to hear them,” Pamela re- 
plied, ‘‘ but I feel just now as though we had talked 
enough politics. Do you know that I came up on 
deck in a state of great agitation ? ” 

“Submarine alarms from the stewardess?” Mr. 
Fischer suggested. 

“ I am not afraid of submarines, but I have a most 
profound dislike for thieves,” Pamela declared. 

“You have not had anything stolen?” he asked 
quickly. 

“ I have not,” Pamela replied, “ but the only 
reason seems to be that I have nothing worth steal- 
ing. When I got back from luncheon this afternoon 
I found that my stateroom had been systematically 
searched.” 

She turned her head a little lazily and looked at 


THE PAWNS COUNT 67 

her neighbour. His expression was entirely sym- 
pathetic. 

“Your jewellery.?” 

“ Deposited with the purser.” 

“ I congratulate you,” he said. 

“Nothing has been stolen,” she observed, “but 
one hates the feeling of insecurity, all the same. 
Both my steward and stewardess are old friends. 
It fnust have been a very clever person who found 
his way into my room.” 

“ A very clever person,” Mr. Fischer objected, 
“ would have known that you had deposited your 
jewels with the purser.” 

“ If it was my jewels of which they were in 
search,” Pamela murmured. “ By the bye, do you 
remember all that fuss about the disappearance of a 
young soldier that morning at Henry’s ? ” 

Fischer nodded. 

“ I heard something about it,” he confessed. 
“ They were talking about it at dinner-time.” 

“ I had an idea that you might be interested,” 
Pamela went on. “ He was rather a foolish young 
man. He came into the restaurant telling every one 
at the top of his voice that he had made a great 
discovery ! Even in London, which is, I should 
think, the most prosaic city in the world, there must 
be people who are on the lookout to pick up war 
secrets.” 

“ Even in London, as you remark,” Fischer as- 
sented. 

“ You didn’t hear the end of the affair, I sup- 
pose.? ” she asked him. 


68 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


The steward had arrived with afternoon tea. 
Fischer threw into the sea the cigar which he had 
been smoking. 

“ I do not think,” he said, “ that the end has been 
reached yet.” 

Pamela sighed. 

“ Les oreilles ennemies ! ” she quoted. I suppose 
one has to be careful everywhere.” 


CHAPTER VIII 


It was one evening towards the end of the voyage,, 
and about an hour after dinner. A huge form 
loomed out of the darkness, continuing its steady 
promenade along the unlit portion of the deck^ 
Pamela, moved by some caprice, abandoned her cau- 
tion of the last few days and called out. 

“Mr. Fischer!” 

He stopped short. The sparks flew from the red 
end of his cigar, which he tossed into the sea. He 
hastened towards her. 

“ Miss Van Teyl? ” he replied, a little hesitatingly. 

“ How clever of you to know my voice I ” she 
observed. “ I am in the humour to talk. Will you 
sit down, please.^ ” 

Mr. Fischer humbly drew a chair to her side. 

“ I had an idea,” he said, “ that you had been 
avoiding me the last two or three days.” 

“ I have,” she admitted. 

“Have I offended you, then?” 

“ Scarcely that,” she replied, “ only, you see, it 
seemed waste of time to talk to you with the foils 
on, and a little dangerous, perhaps, to talk to you 
with them off.” 

His face reflected his admiration. 

“ Miss Van Teyl,” he declared, “ you are quite a 
wonderful person. I have never believed very muchfc 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


70 

in women before. Perhaps that is the reason why 
I have never married.” 

“Dear me, are you a woman-hater.^” she asked. 

He looked at her steadfastly. 

“ I have made use of women as playthings,” he 
confessed. “ Until I met youv I never thought of 
them as companions, as partners.” 

She laughed at him through the darkness, and at 
the sound of her laugh his eyes glowed. 

“ Really, I am very much flattered,” she said. 
“ You give me credit for intelligence, then.^ ” 

“ I give you credit for every gift a woman should 
have,” he answered enthusiastically. “ I recognise 
in you the woman I have sometimes dreamed of.” 

Again she laughed. 

“ Don’t tell me, Mr. Fischer,” she protested, “ that 
ever in your practical life you have spent a single 
moment in dreams ? ” 

“ I have spent many,” he assured her, “ but they 
have all been since I knew you.” 

Pamela sighed. 

“ I have never been through a voyage,” she ob- 
served, “ without a love affair. Still, I never sus- 
pected you, Mr. Fischer.” 

“ You suspected me, perhaps, of other things.” 

She nodded. 

“ I am full of suspicions about you,” she admitted. 

I am not going to tell you what they are, of 
course.” 

“ There is one thing of which I am guilty,” he 
confessed. “ I should like to tell you about it right 
now.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


71 


“ Could I guess it ? ” 

“You’re clever enough.” 

“You like me, don’t 3^ou, Mr. Fischer.^” 

“ Better than any woman in the world,” he an- 
swered promptly. “ And my confession is — well> 
just that. Will you marry me.^ ” 

Pamela shook her head. 

“ Quite early in life,” she confided, “ I made up ray 
mind that I would never give a definite answer to any 
one who proposed to me on a steamer. I suppose it’s 
the wind, or is it the stars, or the silence, or what? 
I have known the sanest of men, even like you, Mr» 
Fischer, become quite maudlin.” 

“ I am brimful of common sense at the present 
moment,” he declared earnestly. “ You and I could 
do great things together, if only I could get you to 
look at one certain matter from my point of view; 
to see it as I see it.” 

“ A political matter ? ” she inquired naively. 

“ I want to try and persuade you,” he confessed, 
“ that America has everything in the world to gain 
from Germany’s success, and everything to lose if 
the Allies should triumph in this war and Great 
Britain should continue her tyranny of the 
seas.” 

“ It’s an extraordinarily interesting subject,’* 
Pamela admitted. 

“It is almost as absorbing,” he declared, “ as the 
other matter which just now lies even nearer to my 
heart.” 

She withdrew her fingers from his sudden clutch. 

“ Mr. Fischer,” she told him, “ what I said just 


73 THE PAWNS COUNT 

now was quite final. I will not be made love to on a 
steamer.” 

“ When we land,” he continued eagerly, “ you will 
be coming to see your brother, won’t you.^^ ” 

She nodded. 

“ Of course ! I am coming to the Plaza Hotel. 
That, I suppose, is good news for you, Mr. Fischer.’^ 
Of course it is,” he answered, ‘‘ but why do you 
say so ? ” 

‘‘ It will give you so many opportunities,” she 
murmured. 

‘‘ Of seeing you.^ ” 

She shook her head. 

Of searching my belongings.” 

There was a moment’s silence. She heard his 
quick breath through the darkness. His voice as- 
sumed its harsher tone. 

You believe that it was I who searched your 
stateroom ” 

I am sure that it was you, or some one acting for 
jou.” 

What is it, then, of which I am in search? ” he 
demanded. 

Captain Graham’s formula,” she replied. 
think you want that a good deal more than you 
want me.” 

You have it then? ” he asked fiercely. 

She sighed. 

“ You jump so to conclusions. I didn’t say 

so.” 

“ You went up the stairs . . . you were the only 
person who went up just at that one psychological 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


73 

moment! He had his pocketbook with him when he 
came in — he told Holderness so.” 

“ And when you searched him it was gone,” she 
remarked calmly. “ Dear me 1 ” 

‘‘ How do you know that I searched him? ” Fischer 
demanded. 

“ How dare you ask me to give away my secrets ? ” 
she replied. 

“ Listen,” he began, striving with an almost pain- 
ful effort to keep his voice down to the level of a 
whisper, you and I together, we could do the most 
marvellous things. I could let you into all my 
schemes. They are great. They will be successful. 
After the war is over — ” 

He held his breath for a moment. The tramp of 
approaching footsteps warned him of the coming of 
an intruder. The Captain came to a standstill be- 
fore their chairs and saluted. 

Miss Van Teyl,” he said, there will be a mutiny 
in the saloon if you don’t come down and sing.” 

She almost sprang to her feet. The ship was roll- 
ing a little, and she laid her fingers upon his arm. 

“ I meant to come long ago,” she declared, “ but 
Mr. Fischer has been so interesting. You will finish 
telling me your experiences another time, won’t 
you ? ” she called out over her shoulder. ‘‘ There is? 
so much that I still want to hear.” 

Fischer’s reply was almost ungracious. He 
watched their departure in silence, and afterwards 
leaned further back in his chair. With long, nerv- 
ous fingers he drew a black cigar from his case and 
lit it. Then he folded his arms. For more than 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


74 

half an hour he sat there motionless, smoking furi- 
ously, He looked out into the chaos of the windy 
darkness, he heard voices riding upon the seas, 
shrieking and calling to him, voices to which he had 
been deaf too long. The burden of these later years 
of turbulent, brazen, selfish struggling, rolled back. 
He had been a sentimentalist once, a willing seeker 
after things which seemed to have passed him by. 
At his age, he told himself, a man should still find 
more than one place in the world. 


CHAPTER IX 


James Van Teyl glanced curiously at the small, 
dark figure standing patiently before him, and then 
back again at the wireless cable which he held in his 
fingers. He was just back from a tiring day in WaU 
Street, and was reclining in the most comfortable 
easy-chair of his Hotel Plaza sitting-room. 

‘‘ Gee ! ” he murmured. “ This beats me. The 
last thing I should have-' thought we wanted here 
was a valet. The fellow who looks after this suite 
has scarcely anything else to do. What did you 
say your name was.^ ” 

‘‘ Nikasti, sir.” 

Van Teyl carefully reconsidered the cable. It 
certainly seemed to leave no room for misunder- 
standing. 

Please engage for our service, as valet, Nikasti. 
See that he enters on his duties at once. Hope 
land this evening. Your sister on board sends 
love. — F. 

« Well that seems clear enough,” the young man 
muttered, thrusting the form into his waistcoat 
pocket. “ You’re here to stay, I guess, Nikasti.? I 
see you’ve brought your kit along.” 

“ In case you decided to engage me, sir,” the man 
replied. 

“ Oh, you are engaged right enough,” Van Teyl 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


76 

assured him. “ You’d better make the best job you 
can of putting out my evening clothes. If you 
ring for the floor valet, he’ll help you. The bed- 
rooms are through that door.” 

Very good, sir ! ” 

I am going down to the barber’s now,” V an 
Teyl continued, rising to his feet. “ J ust remember 
this, Nikas ti — what a name, by the bye ! ” 

I could be called Kato,” the man suggested. 

‘‘Kato for me all the time,” his prospective em- 
ployer agreed. ‘‘ Well, listen. My sister. Miss Van 
Teyl, arrives from Europe on the Lapland this even- 
ing. If she comes in or rings up, say I’m here and 
I want to see her at once. You understand? ” 

“ I understand, sir.” 

Van Teyl strolled out, and Kato disappeared into 
the inner room. The floor valet, dressed in the dark 
blue livery of the hotel, was already laying out his 
master’s dinner clothes. He eyed the intruder a 
little truculently. 

‘‘ Who are you, anyway ? ” he inquired. 

My name is Nikas ti,” was the quiet reply. 

Mr. Van Te^d has engaged me as his valet, to wait 
upon him and Mr. Fischer.” 

The man laid down the shirt into which he was 
fixing the studs. 

That’s some news,” he remarked bitterly. 

‘‘To wait on Mr. Van Teyl and Mr. Fischer, eh? 
What the hell do they want you for? ” 

Nikasti shook his head slowly. He was very 
small, and his dark eyes seemed filled with 
melancholy. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 77 

It is not for a very long time,” he ventured. 

Long enough to do me out of my five dollars’ tip 
every week,” the man grumbled. I’m a married 
man, too, and a good American. Blast you fellows, 
coming and taking our jobs away! Can’t think 
what they let you into the country for.” 

I am sorry,” Nikasti murmured. 

Your sorrow don’t bring me in my five dollars,” 
the valet retorted bitterly. There’s only two 
suites on this floor to work for, anyway, and this is 
the only one worth a cent.” 

“ I am taking the situation,” the other explained, 

for the sake of experience. I do not wish to rob 
you of your earnings. I will pay you the five dollars 
a week while I stay here. You shall help me with 
the work.” 

“ That’s a deal, my little yellow-skinned kid,” the 
valet agreed in a tone of relief. ‘‘I’ll show you 
where the things are kept.” 

His new coadjutor bowed. 

“ The telephone is ringing in the master’s room,” 
he observed. “You shall remain here, and I will 
answer it.” 

“ That goes, Jappy,” the man acquiesced. “ If 
it’s a young lady take her name, but don’t say that 
Mr. Van Teyl’s about. Forward young baggages 
some of them are.” 

Nikasti glided from the room, closed the door, 
and approached the telephone receiver. 

“ Yes,” he acknowledged, “ these are the rooms of 
Mr. Van Teyl. . . . No, madam, Mr. Van Teyl 
is not in at present.” 


78 THE PAWNS COUNT 

There was a moment’s pause. Nikasti’s face was 
impenetrable as he listened, but his eyes glowed. 

“ Yes, I understand, madam,” he said softly. 
“ You are Miss Van Teyl, and you wish to speak to 
your brother. The moment Mr. Van Teyl returns 
I will ring you up or fetch you.” 

He replaced the receiver upon its hook, and re- 
turned to the bedroom. For some little time he was 
initiated into the mysteries of his new master’s studs, 
boots and shoes, and general taste in wearing ap- 
parel. Then the latter entered the sitting-room, 
and Nikasti obeyed his summons. 

“ Any one called me up.^ ” he inquired. 

‘‘ No one, sir.” 

Van Teyl glanced at the clock in an undecided 
manner. 

“ I’ll change right away,” he decided. “ Just set 
things to rights in here, fill my cigarette case, and 
hang round by the telephone.” 

Nikasti bowed, and the young man disappeared 
into the inner room. His new attendant waited 
until the door was closed. Then he removed the 
receiver from its hook, laid it upon the table, and 
moved stealthily towards the open fireplace. For 
several moments he remained in an attitude of 
listening, then with quick, lithe fingers he drew from 
his pocket a cable dispatch, reread it with an air 
of complete absorption, and committed it to the 
flames. He watched it bum, and turned away from 
the contemplation of its grey ashes with a sigh of 
content. Suddenly he started. The door of the 
sitting-room had been opened and closed. A tall. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 79 

broad-shouldered man, wearing gold-rimmed spec- 
tacles, a long travelling coat and a Homburg hat, 
was standing watching him. Nikasti was only mo- 
mentarily disturbed. His look of gentle inquiry was 
perfect. 

“You wish to see my master — Mr. Van Teyl.^” 
he asked. 

“Where is he.^” Fischer demanded. 

“ He is dressing in the next apartment. I will 
take him your name.” 

Fischer threw his coat and hat upon the table. 

“ That’ll do directly,” he replied. “ So you’re 
Nikasti ” 

They looked at one another for a moment. The 
face of the Japanese was smooth, bland, and im- 
perturbable. His eyes were innocent even of any 
question. Fischer’s forehead was wrinkled, and his 
brows drawn close together. 

“ I am Nikasti,” the other acknowledged — Kato 
Nikasti. Mr. Van Teyl has just engaged me as his 
valet.” 

“You can take off the gloves,” Fischer told him. 
“ I am Oscar Fischer.” 

“ Oscar Fischer,” Nikasti repeated. 

“ Yes ! . . . Burning something when I came in, 
weren’t you.^ Looked like a cable, eh.^ ” 

“ A dispatch from London,” Nikasti confided. 

“ Nothing that would interest me, eh.'^ ” 

“ It was a family message,” was the calm response. 
“ It did not concern the affair which is between us.” 

“ How came you to speak English like this ? ” 
Fischer inquired. 


8o 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ I was at Oxford University for two years,” 
Nikasti told him, “ and in the Embassy at London 
for five more.” 

“ Before you took up your present job, eh? ” 

Nikasti assented silently. Fischer glanced around 
as though to make sure that they were still alone. 

I have the communication with me,” he an- 
nounced, “ which we are to discuss. The terms of 
our proposal are clearly set out, and they are signed 
by the Highest of all himself. The letter embodying 
them was handed to me three weeks ago to-day in 
Berlin. Have you been to Washington?” 

Nikasti shook his head. 

‘‘I do not go to Washington,” he said. ‘‘You 
will understand that diplomatically, as you would 
put it, I do not exist. Neither is it necessary. I 
am here to listen.” 

Fischer nodded. 

“ There need be very little delay, then,” he ob- 
served, “ before we get to work.” 

Nikasti bowed and raised his forefinger in warning. 

“ I think,” he whispered, “ that Mr. Van Teyl has 
finished dressing. 


CHAPTER X 


Van Teyl, as he hastened forward to meet his 
friend, presented at first sight a very good type of 
the well-groomed, athletic young American. He 
was over six feet tall, with smooth, dark hair brushed 
back from his forehead, a strong, clean-shaven face 
and good features. Only, as he drew nearer, there 
was evident a slight, unnatural quivering at the 
corner of his lips. The cordiality of his greeting, 
too, was a little overdone. 

‘‘ Welcome home, Fischer ! Why, man, you’re 
looking fine. Had a pleasant voyage? ” 

“ Storms for the first few days — after that all 
right,” Fischer replied. 

“ Any submarines ? ” 

“ Not a sight of one. Seen your sister yet? ” 

‘‘ Not yet. I’ve been waiting about for a tele- 
phone message. She hadn’t arrived, a few minutes 
ago.” 

Fischer frowned. 

“ I want us three to meet — you and she and I — 
the first moment she sets foot in the hotel,” he de- 
clared. 

‘‘What’s the hurry?” Van Teyl demanded. 
“ You must have seen plenty of her the last ten 
days.” 


82 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ That,” Fischer insisted, “ was a different mat- 
ter, See here, Jimmy, I’ll be frank with you.” 

He walked to the door of the bedroom, opened it, 
and looked inside. Its sole occupant was Nikasti, 
who was at the far end, putting away some clothes. 
Fischer closed the door firmly and returned. 

“ I want you to understand this, James,” he be- 
gan. ‘‘Your sister is meddling in certain things 
she’d best leave alone.” 

Van Teyl lit a cigarette. 

“ No use talking to me,” he observed. “ Pamela’s 
her own mistress, and she’s gone her own way ever 
since she came of age.” 

“ She’s got to quit,” Fischer pronounced. 
“That’s all there is about it. You and I will have 
to talk this out. Where are you dining? ” 

“ Downstairs,” Van Teyl replied gloomily. “ I 
was thinking of waiting for Pamela.” 

“ You leave word to have your people let you know 
directly she arrives,” Fischer advised, “ and come 
along with me.” 

Van Teyl allowed himself to be led towards the 
door. Nikasti, with a due sense of his new duties, 
glided past them, rang for the lift, and watched them 
descend. Fischer turned at once towards the dining 
room. 

“ Thank God we’re in a civilised country,” he 
observed, “ and that I don’t have to change when I 
don’t want to ! ” 

They found a quiet table, and Fischer, displaying 
much interest in the menu, ordered a somewhat ex- 
tensive dinner. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


83 

Grapefruit and Maryland chicken are worth 
coming back to,” he declared. ‘‘ Now see here, 
James, let’s get to business. You’ve got to help me 
with your sister.” 

“ But how.^ ” Van Teyl demanded. Pamela and 
I are good pals, of course, but she has a will of her 
own in all she does, and I don’t fancy that anything 
I could say would influence her very much.” 

“ There are two things about your sister,” Fischer 
continued. ‘‘ The first is that she’s got to quit this 
secret service business she’s got herself mixed up in.” 

‘‘Don’t talk nonsense!” Van Teyl exclaimed. 
“ Pamela doesn’t care a fig about politics.” 

Fischer grunted scornfully. 

“You don’t know much about your sister, young 
fellow,” he said. “ Internal politics over here may 
not interest her a cent, but she’s crazy about Amer- 
ica as a country, and she’s shrewd enough to- see 
things coming that a great many of you over here 
aren’t looking for. Anyway, she came bang up 
against me in a little scheme I had on the night be- 
fore I left Europe, and somewhere about her she’s 
got concealed a document which I’d gladly buy for 
a quarter of a million dollars.” 

Van Teyl drank off his second cocktail. 

“ Some money 1 ” he observed. “ How did she 
come by the prize?” 

“ Played up for it, just as I did,” Fischer replied. 
“ She was clever enough to make use of my scaffold- 
ing, and got up the ladder first. I’m not squealing, 
but I’ve got to have that document, whatever it costs 


84 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


Van Teyl was silent for a moment. There was 
an undercurrent of something threatening in his 
companion’s manner, of which he had taken note. 

“ And the second thing you mentioned? ” he asked. 
« What is that?” 

Fischer, as though to give due emphasis to his 
statement, indulged in a brief pause. Then he 
leaned a little forward and spoke very slowly and 
very forcibly. 

“ I want to marry her,” he declared. 

Van Teyl learned back in his chair and gazed at 
his vis-a-vis in blank astonishment. 

‘‘You must be a damned fool, Fischer!” he ex- 
claimed. 

“You think so?” was the unruffled reply. “I 
wonder why ? ” 

“ ril tell you why, if you want to know,” Van 
Teyl continued bluntly. “ I know of four of the 
richest and best-looking young men in America, two 
ambassadors, an English peer, and an Italian prince, 
who have proposed to Pamela during the last twelve 
months alone. She refused every one of them.” 

“ Well,” Fischer remarked, “ she must marry some 
time.” 

Van Teyl looked at him insolently. 

“ I shouldn’t think you’d have a dog’s chance,” he 
pronounced. 

There was a little glitter behind Fischer’s spec- 
tacles. 

“ Up till now,” he admitted smoothly, “ I have 
not been fortunate. I must confess, however, that I 
was hoping for your good offices.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


85 

Pamela wouldn’t take the slightest notice of any- 
thing I might say,” Van Teyl declared. “ Besides, 
I should hate you to marry her.” 

“ A little blunt, are you not, my young friend.^ ” 
Fischer remarked amiably. “ Still, to continue, 
there is also the matter of that document. I must 
confess that I exercised all my ingenuity to obtain 
possession of it on the steamer.” 

“ You would! ” Van Teyl muttered. 

Your sister, however,” Fischer continued, ‘‘ was 
wise enough to have it locked up in the purser’s safe 
the moment she set foot upon the steamer. She 
gave me the slip when she got it back, and eluded 
me, somehow, on the quay. She will scarcely have 
had time to part with it yet, though. When she 
arrives here to-night, it will in all probability be in 
her possession.” 

“ Well.^* ” Van Teyl demanded. ‘‘ You don’t sug- 
gest that I should rob her of it, I suppose? ” 

“ Not at all,” Fischer replied. ‘‘ On the other 
hand, you might very well induce her to give it up 
voluntarily, or at least to treat with me.” 

You don’t know Pamela,” was Van Teyl’s curt 
reply. 

“ I know her sufficiently,” Fischer went on, lean- 
ing over the table, ‘‘ to believe that she would sacri- 
fice a great deal to save her brother from Sing 
Sing.” 

Van Teyl took the thrust badly. He started as 
though he had been stabbed, and his face became 
almost ghastly in its pallor. He tossed off a glass 
of wine hastily. 


86 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ Just what do you mean by that? ” he asked 
thickly. 

“ Are you prepared,” Fischer continued, “ to have 
me visit your office to-morrow morning and examine 
my accounts and securities in the presence of your 
partners ? ” 

“Why not?” Van Teyl faltered. “What the 
hell do you mean? ” 

“ I mean, James Van Teyl,” his companion de- 
clared, “ that I should find you a matter of a hun- 
dred thousand dollars short. I mean that you’ve 
realised on some of my securities, gambled on your 
own account with the proceeds, and lost. You did 
this as regards one stock at least, with a forged 
transfer, which I hold.” 

Van Teyl looked almost piteously around. Life 
seemed suddenly to have become an unreal thing 
the crowds of well-dressed diners, the gentle splash- 
ing of the water from the fountains in the winter 
garden, the distant murmuring of music from behind 
the canopy of palms. So this was the end of it! 
All that week he had hoped against hope. He had 
been told of a sure thing. Next week he had meant 
to have a great gamble. Everything was to have 
gone his way, after all. And now it was too late. 
Fischer knew, and Fischer was a cruel man! . . . 

The unnatural silence came to an end. Only 
Fischer’s voice seemed to come from a long way 
off. 

“Drink your wine, James Van Teyl,” he advised, 
“ and listen to me. You’ve been under obligations 
to me from the start. I meant you to be. I 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


87 

brought a great business to your firm, and I insisted 
upon having you interested. I had a motive, as I 
have for most things I do. You are well placed 
socially in New York, and I am not. You are also 
above suspicion, which I am not. It suited me to 
take this suite in the Plaza, nominally in our joint 
names, but to pay the whole account myself. It 
suited me because I required the shelter of your 
social position. You understand.^ ” 

‘‘ I always understand,” Van Teyl muttered. 

“ Just so. Only, whereas you simply thought me 
a snob, I had in reality a different and very definite 
purpose. We come now, however, to your present 
obligation to me. I can, if I choose, tear up your 
forged transfer, submit to the loss of my money, and 
leave you secure. I shall do so if you are able 
to induce your sister to hand over to me those few 
lines of writing — to which, believe me, she has no 
earthly right — and to accept me as a prospective 
suitor.” 

Van Teyl was drinking steadily now, but every 
mouthful of food seemed almost to choke him. Red- 
eyed and defiant, he faced his torturer. 

“You’re talking rot!” he declared. “Pamela 
wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on 
earth, and if she’s got anything she wants to keep, 
she’ll keep it.” 

“ And see her brother disgraced,” Fischer re- 
minded him, “ tried at the Criminal Court for theft 
and sent to Sing Sing.? It’s a good name in New 
York, yours, you know. The Van Teyls have held 
up their heads high for more than one generation. 


88 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


Your sister will not fancy seeing it dragged down 
into the mire.” 

For a single moment the young man seemed about 
to throw himself upon his companion, Fischer, per- 
fectly unmoved, watched him, nevertheless, like a cat. 

Better sit tight,” he enjoined. Drop it now or 
people will be watching us. I have ordered some of 
the old brandy. A liqueur or two will steady you, 
perhaps. Afterwards we will go upstairs and take 
your sister into our confidence.” 

Van Teyl nodded. 

“ Very well,” he agreed hoarsely. “ We’ll hear 
w^hat Pamela has to say.” 


CHAPTER XI 


Nikasti, with a low bow, watched the disappear- 
ance of the lift into which his two new masters, 
James Van Teyl and Oscar Fischer, had stepped. 
He waited until the indicator registered its safe ar- 
rival on the ground floor. Then he slowly retraced 
his steps along the corridor, entered the sitting- 
room, and took up the telephone receiver, which was 
still lying upon the table. 

“ Will you give me number 77,” he asked — “ Miss 
Van TeyPs suite 

There was a moment’s silence — then a voice at 
the other end to which he made obeisance. 

‘‘ It is Miss Van Teyl who speaks? I am Mr. Van 
Teyl’s valet. Mr. Van Teyl is here now and will be 
glad if 3^ou will come in.” 

He replaced the receiver, listened and waited. In 
a few moments there was the sound of a light foot- 
step outside. The door was opened and Pamela 
entered. She was still wearing the grey tailor-made 
costume in which she had left the steamer. 

“ Why, where is Mr. Van Teyl? ” she asked, look- 
ing around the room. “ I have been ringing up for 
the last ten minutes and couldn’t get any answer. I 
did not realise that it was the next suite.” 

“ Mr. Van Teyl is close at hand, madam,” Nikasti 


go THE PAWNS COUNT 

replied. ‘‘ If you will kindly be seated, I will fetch 
him.” 

“How long have you been valet here.^ ” Pamela 
asked curiously. 

“ For a few hours only, madam,” was the grave 
reply. “ If you will be so good as to wait.” 

He bowed low and left the room. Pamela took 
up an evening paper and for a few minutes buried 
herself in its contents. Then suddenly she held it 
away from her and listened. A queer and un- 
accountable impulse inspired her with a certain mis- 
trust. There was no sound of movement in the 
adjoining bedchamber, nor any sign of her brother’s 
presence. She opened the door and peered in. It 
was empty and in darkness. Then, moved by that 
same unaccountable impulse, she crossed the room 
and listened at the door which led into her own 
suite, and which she perceived was bolted on tliis 
side as well as her own. She listened at first idly, 
afterwards breathlessly. In a few moments she was 
convinced that her senses were not playing her false. 
Some one was moving stealthily about in her room, 
the key to which was even at that moment in 
her hand. She hastened to the door, to be con- 
fronted by another surprise. The handle turned 
but the door refused to open. She was locked 
in. 

Pamela was both generous and insistent in the 
matter of bells. She found four, and she rang them 
all together. The consequences were speedy, and 
in their way satisfactory. Nikasti himself, a breath- 
less chambermaid, a hurt but dignified waiter, and 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


91 

the floor valet, who had not even stopped to put on 
his coat, entered together. They seemed a little 
stupefied at finding Pamela alone and no sign of 
any disturbance. 

“ Why was I locked in here ? ” Pamela demanded 
indignantly, taking them en bloc. 

There was a little chorus of non-comprehension, 
Nikasti stepped forward, waved to the others to be 
silent, and bowed almost to the ground. 

“ It was a mistake easily to be understood, 
madam,” he explained. “ The handle is a little stiff, 
perhaps, but the door was not locked. We all 
reached here together, I myself barely a yard in 
advance. No key was used — and behold!” 

Pamela was disposed to argue, but a moment’s 
reflection induced her to change her mind. This 
falsehood of Nikasti’s was at least interesting. She 
waved the hotel servants away. 

I am sorry to have troubled you,” she said. “ I 
will remember it when I pay my bill.” 

They took their leave, Nikasti showing them out. 
When the last had departed, he turned back to the 
centre table, from the other side of which Pamela 
was watching him curiously. 

‘‘ I cannot imagine,” she remarked, “ how I could 
have made such a mistake about the door. I tried 
it twice or three times and it certainly seemed to me 
to be locked.” 

Nikasti moved a step nearer towards her. Some- 
thing of the servility of his manner had gone. For 
the first time she looked at him closely, appreciated 
the tense immobility of his features, the still, pene- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


92 

trating light of his cold eyes. A queer premonition 
of trouble for a moment unsteadied her. 

“ There was no mistake,” he said softly. “ The 
door was locked.” 

Even then she did not fully understand the posi- 
tion. She leaned a little towards him. 

“It was locked?” she repeated. 

“ I locked it,” he told her. “ It is locked now, 
securely. I have been searching in your room for 
something which I did not find. I think that you 
had better give it to me. It will save trouble.” 

“Are you mad?” she demanded breathlessly. 

“ Do I seem so? ” he replied. “ There is no per- 
son more sane than I. I require from you the for- 
mula of the new explosive, which you stole in Henry’s 
restaurant eleven days ago.” 

The sense of mystery passed. It was simply 
trouble of the ordinary sort from an unexpected 
source. 

“ Dear me ! ” she murmured. “ Every one seems 
interested in my little adventure. How did you hear 
about it ? ” 

“ I destroyed the cable telling me of all that hap- 
pened only a few minutes ago,” he explained. “It 
was the foolish talk of the young inventor whicli 
gave his secret to the world to scramble for.” 

“ It was very clever of your informant,” she re- 
marked, “ to suggest that I was the fortunate thief. 
Why not Oscar Fischer? It was his plot, not mine.” 

The eyes of the little Japanese seemed suddenly to 
narrow. He realised quite well that she was talk- 
ing simply to gain time. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


93 

“ Madam,” he insisted, “ the formula. It is for 
my country, and for my country I would risk much.” 

“ I do not doubt it,” she replied ; ‘‘ but if I hold it, 
I hold it for my country, too, and there is nothing 
you would risk for Japan from which I should shrink 
for America.” 

He laid his hands upon the table. She turned her 
ring and clenched her hand. She could see his 
spring coming, realised in those few seconds that 
here was an opponent of more desperate and subtle 
calibre than Joseph. Whether her wits might have 
failed her, fate remained her friend. There was a 
knock at the door. 

“ You hear.^^” she cried breathlessly. “There is 
some one there. Shall I call out.'’ ” 

His hands and knee were gone from the table. He 
was once more his old self, so completely the servant 
that for a moment even Pamela was puzzled. It 
seemed as though the events of the last few seconds 
might have been part of a disordered dream. Ni- 
kasti played to the cue of her fevered question and 
entirely ignored them. He opened the door with a 
respectful flourish — - and John Lutchester walked 
in. 


CHAPTER XII 


Pamela’s iSrst shock of surprise did not readily 
pass. In the first place, John Lutchester’s appear- 
ance in America at all was entirely unexpected. In 
the second, by what possible means could he have 
arrived at this precise and psychological moment? 

“ You! ” she exclaimed, a little helplessly. “ Mr. 
Lutchester I ” 

He smiled as he shook hands. Nikas ti had 
slipped noiselessly from the room. Pamela made no 
effort to detain him. She had a curious feeling that 
the things which had passed between them concerned 
their two selves only. So had no desire whatever 
to hand him over to retributive justice. 

^ You are surprised,” he observed. So far as 
ray presence here is concerned, I knew quite well that 
I was coming some time ago, but it was one of 
those matters, you understand. Miss Van Teyl, that 
one is scarcely at liberty to talk about. I am here 
in connection with my work.” 

“ Your work,” she repeated weakly. “ I thought 
that you were in the Ministry of Munitions? ” 

“ Precisely,” he admitted. “ I have a travelling 
inspectorship. You see, I don’t mind telling you 
this, but it is just as well, if you will forgive my 
mentioning it. Miss Van Teyl, that these things are 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


95 

not spoken of to any one. My business over here is 
supposed to be secret. I am going round some of 
the factories from which we are drawing supplies.” 

She drew a long breath and began to feel a little 
more like herself. 

“ Well, after this,” she declared, “ I shall be sur- 
prised at nothing. I have had one shock already 
this evening, and you are the second.” 

The first, I trust, was not disagreeable.^ ” 

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“ Without flattering you,” she answered, “ I think 
I could say that I prefer the second.” 

“ I had an idea,” Lutchester remarked diffidently, 

that my arrival seemed either opportune or in- 
opportune — I could not quite tell which. Were 
you in any way troubled or embarrassed by the pres- 
ence of the little Japanese gentleman? ” 

“ Of course not,” she replied. “ Why, he is 
Jimmy’s valet.” 

“ How absurd of me ! ” Lutchester murmured. 

By the bye, if Jimmy is your brother — Mr. Van 
Teyl — I have a letter to him from a pal in town — 
Dicky Green. It was to present it that I found my 
way up here this evening. I was told that he 
might put me in the way of a little golf during my 
spare time over here.” 

He produced the note and laid it upon the table. 
Pamela glanced at it and then at Lutchester. He 
was carefully dressed in dinner clothes, black tie and 
white waistcoat. He was, as usual, perfectly 
groomed and immaculate. He had what she could 
only describe to herself as an everyday air about 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


96 

him. He seemed entirely free from any mental 
pressure or the wear and tear of great events. 

“Golf.^” she repeated wonderingly. ‘‘You ex- 
pect to have a little spare time, then.? ” 

“ Well, I hope so,” Lutchester replied. “ One 
must have exercise. By the bye,” he went on, “ is 
your brother in, do you happen to know.? Perhaps 
it would be more convenient if I came round in the 
morning.? I am staying in the hotel.” 

“ Oh, for goodness sake, don’t go away,” she 
begged. “ Jimmy will be here presently, for certain. 
To tell you the truth, we have been rather playing 
hide-and-seek this evening, but it hasn’t been alto- 
gether his fault. Please sit down over there — you 
will find cigarettes on the sideboard — and talk to 
me.” 

“ Delighted,” he agreed, taking the chair opposite 
to her. “ I suppose you want to know what became 
of poor Graham ? ” 

A sudden bewilderment appeared in her face. She 
leaned towards him. Her forehead was knitted, her 
eyes puzzled. There was a new problem to be 
solved. 

“ Why, Mr. Lutchester,” she demanded, “ how on 
earth did you get here .? ” 

“ Across the Atlantic,” he replied amiably. “ Bit 
too far the other way round.” 

“Yes, but what on.?” she persisted. “I went 
straight on to the Lapland after we parted last week, 
and only arrived here an hour or so ago. There 
was no other passenger steamer sailing for three 
days.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


97 

‘‘ I was a stowaway,” he told her confidentially — 
helped to shovel coals all the way over.” 

Don’t talk nonsense ! ” she protested a little 
sharply. “ I dislike mysteries. Look at you ! A 
stowaway, indeed! Tell me the truth at once.? ” 

He leaned forward in his chair towards her. An 
ingenuous smile parted his lips. He had the air of 
a schoolboy repeating a mischievous secret. 

“ The fact is. Miss Van Teyl,” he confided, “ I 
don’t want it talked about, you know, but I had a 
joy ride over.” 

“ A what? ” 

“A joy ride,” he repeated. ‘‘ A cousin of mine 
is in command of a destroyer, and she was under 
orders to sail for New York. He hadn’t the slight- 
est right, really, to bring a passenger, as she was 
coming over on a special mission, but I had word 
about the trip over here, so I slipped on board late 
one night — not a word to any one, you understand 
— and — well, here I am. A more awful voyage,” 
he went on impressively, ‘‘ you couldn’t imagine. I 
was sore all over within twenty-four hours of start- 
ing. There’s practically no deck on those things, 
you know, for sitting out or anything of that sort. 
The British Navy’s nowhere for comfort, I can tell 
you. The biggest liner for me, going back 1 ” 
Pamela was still a little dazed. Lutchester’s 
story did not sound in the least convincing. For the 
moment, however, she accepted his account of him- 
self. 

“ Tell me now,” she begged, ‘‘ about Captain 
Graham? ” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


98 

You haven’t heard, then? ” 

“ I have heard nothing. How should I hear? ” 

“ I took him straight back to my rooms after we 
left you,” Lutchester began. He was in an awful 
state of nerves and drugs and drink. Then I put 
him to bed as soon as I could, and rang up a pal 
of mine at the War Office to take him in hand.” 

“ Do you believe,” she asked curiously, “ that he 
had really been robbed of his formula? ” 

“ Those amiable people who were interviewing him 
in the chapel seemed to think so,” Lutchester ob- 
served. 

‘‘ But you! What do you think? ” she persisted. 
He smiled in superior fashion. 

‘‘ I find it rather hard to bring myself to believe 
that any one would take the trouble,” he confided. 

I have heard it said in my department that there 
have been thirty-one new explosives invented since 
the beginning of the war. Two of them only are in 
use, and they’re not much better than the old stuff.” 

Pamela nodded understandingly. 

“ All the same,” she remarked, I am not at all 
sure that was the case with Captain Graham’s in- 
vention. There were rumours for days before that 
something wonderful was happening on Salisbury 
Plain. They had to cover up whole acres of ground 
after his last experiments, and a man who was down 
there told me that it seemed just as though the life 
had been sucked out of it.” 

“Where did you collect all this information?” 
her visitor inquired. 

She shrugged her shoulders. 


99 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

‘‘ One hears everything in London.” 

Lutchester was sitting with his finger-tips pressed 
together. For a moment his attention seemed fixed 
upon them. 

There are things,” he said, “ which one hears, 
too, in the far corners of the world — on the At- 
lantic, for instance.” 

‘‘ You have had some news? ” she interrupted. 

‘‘ It is really a private piece of information,” he 
told her, “ and it won’t be in the papers — not the 
way the thing happened, anyway — but I don’t sup- 
pose there’s any harm in telling you, as we were both 
more or less mixed up in the affair. Graham was 
shot the next day, on his way up to Northumber- 
land.” 

“ Shot ? ” she exclaimed incredulously. 

Murdered, if you’d like the whole thrill,” Lut- 
chester continued. “ Of course, we didn’t get many 
particulars in the wireless, but we gathered that he 
was shot by some one passing him in a more powerful 
car on a lonely stretch of the Great North Road.” 

Pamela shuddered. She was for the moment pro- 
foundly impressed. A certain air of unreality which 
had hung over the events of that night was suddenly 
banished. The whole tragedy rose up before her 
eyes. The effect of it was almost stupefying. 

“ Gave me quite a shock,” Lutchester confided. 
‘‘ Somehow or other I had never been able to take 
that night quite seriously. There was more than 
a dash of melodrama in it, wasn’t there? Seems 
now as though those fellows must have been in 
earnest, though.” 


100 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


And as though Captain Graham’s formula,” she 
reminded him gravely, ‘‘ was the real thing.” 

“ Whereupon,” Lutchester observed, “ our first 
interest in the affair receives a certain stimulus. 
Some one stole the formula. To judge from the be- 
haviour of those amiable gentlemen connected with 
Henry’s Restaurant, it wasn’t they. Some one had 
been before them. Have you any theories. Miss Van 
Teyl?” 

“ I can tell you who has,” she replied. ‘‘ Do you 
remember when we w^ere all grouped around that 
notice — Mefiez-vous ! Taisez-vous ! Les oreilles 
ennemies vous ecoutent ! ? ” 

“ Of course I do,” he assented. 

Do you remember Baron Sunyea making a re- 
mark afterwards? He had been standing by and 
heard everything Graham said.” 

“ Can’t say that I do,” Lutchester regretted, but 
I remember seeing him about the place.” 

“ You promise to say or do nothing without my 
permission, if I tell you something? ” she went on. 

“ Naturally ! ” 

“ See, then, how diplomacy or secret service work, 
or whatever you like to call it, can gather the ends of 
the world together ! Only a quarter of an hour ago 
that Japanese valet of my brother’s, having searched 
my rooms in vain, demanded from me that formula ! ” 

“ From you? ” Lutchester gasped, “ But you 
haven’t got it ! ” 

“ Of course not. On the other hand Sunyea 
pitched upon me as being one of the possible thieves, 
and cabled his instructions over.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


lOI 


“ Have you got it? ” he asked abruptly. 

‘‘ If I had,” she smiled, “ I should not tell you.” 

But come,” he expostulated, “ the thing’s no use 
to you.” 

“ So Baron Sunyea evidently thought,” she 
laughed. “ We’ll leave that, if you don’t mind.” 

Lutchester was still looking a little bewildered. 

“ I had an idea when I came in,” he muttered, 
“ that things were a little scrappy between you and 
the Japanese gentleman.” 

She was suddenly serious. 

“ Now that I have told you the truth,” she said, 
“ I really ought to thank you. You certainly seem 
to have a knack of appearing when you are wanted.” 

“ Fluke this time, I’m afraid,” he acknowledged, 
“but I rather like the suggestion. You ought to 
see a great deal of me. Miss Van Teyl. Do you 
realise that I am a stranger in New York, and any 
hospitality you can show me may be doubly re- 
warded? Are you going to take me round and show 
me the sights ? ” 

“ Are you going to have any time for sight-see- 
ing? ” 

“ Well, I hope so. Why not ? A fellow can’t do 
more than a certain number of hours’ work in a 
day.” 

She looked at him curiously. 

“ And yet,” she murmured, “ you expect to win the 
war ! ” 

“ Of course we shall win the war,” he assured her 
confidently. “ You haven’t any doubt about that 
yourself, have you, Miss Van Teyl? ” 


102 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ I don’t know,” she told him calmly. 

Lutchester was almost horrified. He rose to his 
feet and stood looking down at his companion. 

“ Tell me what on earth you mean.^ ” he demanded. 
“ We always win in the long run, even if we muddle 
things about a little.” 

‘‘I was just contrasting in my mind,” she said 
thoughtfully, some of the Germans whom I have 
met since the war, with some of the Englishmen. 
They are taking it very seriously, you know, Mr. 
Lutchester. They don’t find time for luncheon 
parties or sight-seeing.” 

“ That’s just their way,” he protested. ‘‘ They 
turn themselves into machines. They are what we 
used to call suckers at school, but you can take my 
word for it that before next autumn they will be on 
the run.” 

“ You call them suckers,” she observed. “ That’s 
because they’re always working, always studying, 
always experimenting. Supposing they got hold of 
something like this new explosive? ” 

“ First of all,” he told her, “ I don’t believe in it, 
and secondly, if it exists, the formula isn’t in their 
hands.” 

“Supposing it is in mine?” she suggested. “I 
might sell it to them.” 

“ I’d trust you all the time,” he laughed light- 
heartedly. “ I can’t see you giving a leg up to the 
Huns. . . . Will you lunch with me at one o’clock 
to-morrow, please? ” 

“ Certainly not,” she replied. “ You must attend 
to your work, whatever it is.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


103 

“ That’s all very well,” he grumbled, “ but every 
one has an hour off for luncheon.” 

“ People who win wars don’t lunch,” she declared 
severely. Here’s Jimmy — I can hear his voice — 
and he’s brought some one up with him. I’ll — let 
you know about lunch.” 

The door opened. James Van Teyl and Fischer 
entered together. 


CHAPTER XIII 


The first few seconds after the entrance of the two 
men were monopolised by the greetings of Pamela 
with her brother. Fischer stood a little in the back- 
ground, his eyes fixed upon Lutchester. His brain 
was used to emergencies, but he found himself here 
confronted by an unanswerable problem. 

“Say, this is Mr. Lutchester, isn’t it.?” he in- 
quired, holding out his hand. 

“ The. same,” Lutchester assented politely. “ We 
met at Henry’s some ten days ago, didn’t we.? ” 

“ Mr. Lutchester has brought us a letter from 
Dicky Green, Jimmy,” Pamela explained, as she with- 
drew from her brother’s arms. “ Quite unnecessary, 
as it happens, because I met him in London just be- 
fore we sailed.” 

“ Very glad to meet you, Mr. Lutchester,” Jimmy 
declared, wringing his hand with American cor- 
diality. “ Dicky’s an old pal of mine — one of the 
best. We graduated in the same year from Har- 
vard.” 

Conversation for a few minutes was platitudinous. 
Van Teyl, although he showed few signs of his re- 
cent excesses, was noisy and boisterous, clutching at 
this brief escape from a situation which he dreaded. 
Fischer on the other hand, remained in the back- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


105 


ground, ominously silent, thinking rapidly, specu- 
lating and theorising as to the coincidence, if it were 
coincidence, of finding Lutchester and Pamela to- 
gether. He listened to the former’s polite conver- 
sation, never once letting his eyes wander from his 
face. All his thoughts were concentrated upon one 
problem. The mysterious escape of Sandy Graham, 
which had sent him flying from the country, remained 
unsolved. Of Pamela’s share in it he had already 
his suspicions. Was it possible that Lutchester was 
the other and the central figure in that remarkable 
rescue? He waited his opportunity, and, during a 
momentary lull in the cheerful conversation, broke in 
with his first question. 

“ Say, Mr. Lutchester, you haven’t any twin 
brother, have you? ” 

“No brother at all,” Lutchester admitted. 

“ Then, how did you get over here? You were at 
Henry’s weren’t you, on the night the Lapland 
sailed? You didn’t cross with us, and there’s no 
other steamer due for two days.” 

“ Then I can’t be here,” Lutchester declared. 
“ The thing’s impossible.” 

“ Guess you’ll have to explain, if you want to save 
me from a sleepless night,” Fischer persisted. 

Lutchester smiled. He had the air of one enjoy- 
ing the situation immensely. 

“ Well,” he said, “ I have h^d to confess to Miss 
Van Teyl here, so I may as well make a clean breast 
of it to you. To every one else I meet in New York, 
I shall say that I came over on the Lapland, I 
really came over on a destroyer.” 


io6 THE PAWNS COUNT 

Fischer’s face seemed to become more set and grim 
than ever. 

A British destroyer,” he muttered to him- 
self. 

“ It was kind of a joy ride,” Lutchester explained 
confidentially, “ a cousin of mine who was in com- 
mand came in to see me and say good-by, just after 
I’d received my orders from the head of my depart- 
ment to come out here on the next steamer, and he 
smuggled me on board that night. Mum’s the word, 
though, if you please. We asked nobody’s leave. 
It would have taken about a month to have heard 
anything definite from the Admiralty.” 

“ A British destroyer come across the Atlantic, 
eh? ” Mr. Fischer muttered. ‘‘ She must have come 
out on a special mission, then, I imagine.” 

That is not for me to say,” Lutchester observed, 
with stiff reticence. 

Pamela suddenly and purposely intervened. She 
turned towards Fischer. 

“ Mr. Lutchester brought some rather curious 
news,” she observed. ‘‘ He got it by wireless. Do 
you remember all the fuss there was about the dis- 
appearance of Captain Holderness’ friend at 
Henry’s ? ” 

‘‘ I heard something about it,” he admitted grimly. 

Well, Captain Graham was in my party, so 
naturally I was more interested than any one else. 
To all appearance he entered Henry’s Restaurant, 
walked up the stairs, and disappeared into the skies. 
The place was ransacked everywhere for him, but 
he never turned up. Well, the very next day he was 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


107 

murdered in a motor-car on his way to Northumber- 
land.” 

“ Incredible ! ” Fischer murmured. 

“ Seems a queer set out,” Lutchester remarked, 
“ but it’s quite true. He was supposed to have dis- 
covered a marvellous new explosive, the formula for 
which had been stolen. He was on his way up to 
Northumberland to make fresh experiments.” 

For myself I have little faith,” Fischer observed, 
“ in any new explosives. In Germany they believe, I 
understand, that the limit of destructiveness has been 
attained.” 

“ The Germans should know,” Lutchester admit- 
ted carelessly. I’m afraid they are still a good 
deal ahead of us in most scientific matters. I will 
take the liberty of calling some time to-morrow, Miss 
Van Teyl, and hope I shall have the pleasure of im- 
proving my acquaintance with your brother. Good 
night, Mr. Fischer.” 

Are you staying in the hotel ? ” the latter in- 
quired. 

“ On the fifteenth floor,” was the somewhat gloomy 
reply. ‘‘ I shan’t be able to shave in front of the 
window without feeling giddy. However, I suppose 
that’s America. Good-by, everybody.” 

With a little inclusive and farewell bow he dis- 
appeared. They heard him make his way down the 
corridor and ring for the lift. Rather a curious 
silence ensued, which was broken at last by Pa- 
mela. 

“ Is that,” she asked, throwing herself into an 
easy-chair and selecting a cigarette, ‘‘just an ordi- 


io8 THE PAWNS COUNT 

nary type of a nice, well-bred, unintelligent, self- 
sufficient Englishman, or — ” 

“ Or what? ” Fischer ashed, with interest. 

Pamela watched the smoke curl from the end of 
her cigarette. 

“ Well, I scarcely know how to finish,” she con- 
fessed, ‘‘ only sometimes when I am talking to him I 
feel that he can scarcely be as big a fool as he seems, 
and then I wonder. Jimmy,” she went on, shaking 
her head at him, ‘‘ you’re not looking well. You’ve 
been sitting up too late and getting into bad habits 
during my absence. Open confession, now, if you 
please. If it’s a girl, I shall give you my blessing.” 

Van Tejd groaned and said nothing. A forebod- 
ing of impending trouble depressed Pamela. She 
turned towards Fischer and found in his grim face 
confirmation of her fears. 

“ What does this mean? ” she demanded. 

“ Your brother will explain,” Fischer replied. 

It is better that he should tell you everything.” 

“ Everything? ” she repeated. What is there to 
tell. What have you to do with my brother, any- 
way ? ” she added fiercely. 

“ You must not look at me as though I were in 
any way to blame for what has happened,” was the 
insistent reply. “ On the contrary, I have been very 
lenient with your brother. I am still prepared to be 
lenient — upon certain conditions.” 

The light of battle was in Pamela’s eyes. She 
fought against the significance of the man’s ominous 
words. This was his first blow, then, and directed 
against her. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


109 

“ I begin to understand,” she said. “ Please go 
on. Let me hear everything.” 

Van Teyl had turned to the sideboard. He mixed 
and drank off a whisky and soda. Then he swung 
around. 

“ I’ll make a clean breast of it in a few words, 
Pamela,” he promised. “ I’ve gambled with Fischer’s 
money, lost it, forged a transfer of his certificates to 
meet my liabilities, and I am in his power. He 
could have me hammered and chucked into Sing 
Sing, if he wanted to. That’s all there is about 
it.” 

Pamela stood the shock well. She turned to 
Fischer. 

“ How much of this are you responsible for.? ” she 
asked. 

‘‘ That,” he objected, “ is an impotent question. 
It is' not I who had the moulding of your brother’s 
character. It is not I who made him a forger and 
a weakling.” 

Van Teyl’s arm was upraised. An oath broke 
from his lips. Pamela seized him firmly and drew 
him away. 

“Be quiet, James,” she begged. “Let us hear 
what Mr. Fischer is going to do about it.” 

“ That depends upon you,” was the cold reply. 

Pamela stood at the head of the table, between 
the two men, and laughed. Her brother had sunk 
into a chair, and his head had dropped moodily upon 
his folded arms. She looked from one to the other 
and a new sense of strength inspired her. She felt 
that if she were not indeed entirely mistress of the 


no THE PAWNS COUNT 

situation, yet the elements of triumph were there to 
her hand. 

‘‘ This is living, at any rate,” she declared. 

First of all I discover that your Japanese servant 
is a spy — ” 

“Nikasti!” Van Teyl interrupted furiously. 
‘‘ Blast him ! I knew that there was something 
wrong about that fellow, Fischer.” 

Fischer frowned. 

What’s he been up to ? ” he inquired. 

‘‘ Well, to begin with,” Pamela explained, he 
searched my room, then he locked me in here, and 
was proceeding to threaten me when fortunately Mr. 
Lutchester arrived.” 

“Threaten you — what about Fischer de- 
manded. 

He seemed to have an absurd idea,” Pamela ex- 
plained sweetly, “ that I might have somewhere con- 
cealed upon my person the formula which was stolen 
from Captain Graham last Monday week at Henry’s 
Restaurant. It makes quite a small world of it, 
doesn’t it ? ” 

“ I will deal with Nikasti for this,” Fischer 
promised, “ if it is true. Meanwhile ? ” 

“No sooner have I got over that little shock,” 
Pamela went on, “ than you turn up with this melo- 
dramatic story, and an offer from Mr. Fischer, which 
I can read in his face. Really, I feel that I shall 
hear the buzz of a cinema machine in a moment. 
How much do you owe him, Jimmy? ” 

“ Eighty-nine thousand dollars,” the young man 
groaned. 


Ill 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

I’ll write you a cheque to-morrow morning,” 
Pamela promised. “Will that do, Mr. Fischer.?” 

“ It is the last thing I desire,” was the calm re- 

ply- 

“ Really ! Well, perhaps now you will come to 
the point. Perhaps you will tell me what it is that 
you do want? ” 

“ Stolen property,” Fischer announced deliber- 
ately — “ stolen property, however, to which I have 
a greater right than you.” 

She laughed at him mockingly. 

“ I think not, Mr. Fischer,” she said. “ You 
really don’t deserve it, you know.” 

“ And why not? ” 

“Just see how you have bungled! You bait the 
trap, the poor man walks into it, and you allow 
another to forestall you. Not only that, but you 
actually allow J apan to come into the game, and but 
for Mr. Lutchester’s appearance we might both of 
us have been left plante la. No, Mr. Fischer! You 
don’t deserve the formula, and you shall not have 
it. I’ll pay my brother’s debt to you in dollars — 
no other way.” 

“ Dollars,” Mr. Fischer told her sternly, “ will 
never buy the forged transfer. Dollars will never 
keep your brother out of the city police court or 
Sing Sing afterwards. There isn’t much future for 
a young man who has been through it.” 

Van Teyl was upon him suddenly with a low, mur- 
derous cry. Fischer had no time to resist, no chance 
of success if he had attempted it. He w-as borne 
backwards on to the lounge, his assailant’s hand 


II2 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

upon his throat. The young man was beside him- 
self with drink and fury. The words poured from 
his lips, incoherent, hot with rage. 

You — hound! You’ve made my life a hell! 
You’ve plotted and schemed to get me into your 
power ! . . . There ! Do you feel the life going out 
of you.^ . . . My sister, indeed! You! . • • You 
scum of the earth! You . . 

‘‘ James ! ” 

The sound of Pamela’s voice unnerved him. His 
fit of passion was spent. She dragged him easily 
away. 

“Don’t be a fool, Jimmy!” she begged. “You 
can’t settle accounts like that.” 

“Can’t I.^” he muttered. “If we’d been alone, 
Pamela . . . my God, if he and I had been alone 
here!” 

“ Jimmy,” she said, “ you’re a fool, and you’ve 
been drinking. Fetch the water bottle.” 

He obeyed, and she dashed water in Fischer’s 
face. Presently he opened his eyes, groaned and sat 
up. There were two livid marks upon his throat. 
Van Teyl watched him like a crouching animal. His 
eyes were still lit with sullen fire. The lust for 
killing was upon him. Fischer sat up and blinked. 
He felt the atmosphere of the room, and he knew 
his danger. His hand stole into his hip pocket, and 
a small revolver suddenly flashed upon his knees. 
He drew a long breath of relief. He was like a 
fugitive who had found sanctuary. 

“ So that’s the game, James Van Teyl, is it.^ ” he 
exclaimed. “ Now listen.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


113 

He adjusted the revolver with a click. His cruel, 
long fingers were pressed around its stock. 

‘‘ I am not threatening you,” he went on. ‘‘ I am 
not fond of violence, and I don’t believe in it. This 
is just in case you come a single yard nearer to me. 
Now, Miss Van Teyl, my business is with you. We 
won’t fence any longer. You will hand over to me 
the pocketbook which you stole from Captain 
Graham in Henry’s Restaurant. Hand it over to 
me intact, you understand. In return I will give 
you the forged transfer of stock, and leave it to your 
sense of honour as to whether you care to pay your 
brother’s debt or not. If you decline to consider my 
proposition, I shall ring up Joseph Neville, your 
brother’s senior partner. I shall not even wait for 
to-morrow, mind. I shall make an appointment, and 
I shall place in his hands the proof of your brother’s 
robbery.” 

“ Perhaps,” Pamela murmured, I was wrong to 
stop you, Jimmy. . . . Anything else, Mr. Fischer.'^ ” 

“ Just this. I would rather have carried this 
matter through in a friendly fashion, for reasons at 
which I think you can guess.” 

She shook her head. 

“ You flatter my intelligence ! ” she told him scorn- 
fully. 

“ I will explain, then. I desire to offer myself as 
your suitor.” 

She laughed at him without restraint or considera- 
tion. 

I would rather marry my brother’s valet ! ” she 
declared. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


114 

‘‘You are entirely wrong,” he protested. “You 
are wrong, too, in holding up cards against me. We 
are on the same side. You are an American, and 
so am I. I swear that I desire nothing that is not 
for your good. You have wonderful gifts, and 
I have great wealth and opportunities. I have 
also a sincere and very heartfelt admiration for 
you.” 

“ I have never been more flattered ! ” Pamela 
scoffed. 

He looked a little wistfully from one to the other. 
Antagonism and dislike were written in their faces. 
Even Pamela, who was skilled in the art of subter- 
fuge, made little effort to conceal her aversion. 
Nevertheless, he continued doggedly. 

“ What does it matter,” he demanded, “ who 
handles this formula — you or I? Our faces are 
turned in the same direction. There is this differ- 
ence only with me. I want to make it the basis of 
a kindlier feeling in Washington towards my father’s 
country.” 

Pamela’s eyebrows were raised. 

“ Are you sure,” she asked, “ that the formula it- 
self would not find its way into your father’s coun- 
try.^ ” 

“ As to that I pledge my word;’” he replied. “ I 
am an American citizen.” 

“Looks like it, doesn’t he!” Van Teyl jeered. 

“ Tell us what you have been doing in Berlin, 
then?” Pamela inquired. 

“ I had a definite mission there,” Fischer assured 
them, “ which I hope to bring to a definite conclu- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


115 

sion. If you are an American citizen in the broadest 
sense of the word, England is no more to you than 
Germany. I want to place before some responsible 
person in the American Government, a proposal — 
an official proposal — the acceptance of which will 
be in years to come of immense benefit to her.” 

‘‘ And the quid pro quo ? ” Pamela asked gently. 

I am not here for the purpose of gratifying curi- 
osity,” Fischer replied, “ but if you will take this 
matter up seriously, you shall be the person through 
whom this proposal shall be brought before the 
American Government. The whole of the negotia- 
tions shall be conducted through you. If you suc- 
ceed, you will be known throughout history as the 
woman who saved America from her great and grow- 
ing danger. If you fail, you will be no worse off 
than you are now.” 

“ And you propose to hand over the conduct of 
these negotiations to me,” Pamela observed, “ in re- 
turn for what? ” 

‘‘ The pocketbook which you took from Captain 
Graham.” 

‘‘ So there we are, back again at the commence- 
ment of our discussion,” Pamela remarked. “ Are 
you going to repeat that you want this formula for 
Washington and not for Berlin? ” 

“ My first idea,” Fischer confessed, “ was to hand 
it over to Germany. I have changed my views. 
Germany has great explosives of her own. This 
formula shall be used in a different fashion. It shall 
be a lever in the coming negotiations between Amer- 
ica and Germany.” 


ti6 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ We have had a great deal of conversation to no 
practical purpose,” Pamela declared. ‘‘ Why are 
you so sure that I have the formula.? ” 

Fischer frowned slightly. He had recovered him- 
self now, and his tone was as steady and quiet as 
ever. Only occasionally his eyes wandered to where 
James Van Teyl was fidgetting about the table, and 
at such times his fingers tightened upon the stock of 
his revolver. 

It is practically certain that you have the pa- 
pers,” he pointed out. “ You were the first person 
to go up the stairs after Graham had been rendered 
unconscious. Joseph admits that he had been forced 
to leave him — the orchestra was waiting to play. 
He was alone in that little room. That you should 
have known of its existence and his presence there is 
surprising, but nothing more. Furthermore, I am 
convinced that you were in some way concerned wdth 
his rescue later. You visited Hassan and you visited 
Joseph. From the latter you procured the key of 
the chapel. If only he had had the courage to teU 
the truth — well, we will let that pass. You have 
the papers. Miss Van Teyl. I am bidding a great 
price for them. If you are a wise woman, you will 
not hesitate.” 

There was a knock at the door. They all three 
turned towards it a little impatiently. Even Pamela 
and her brother felt the grip of an absorbing prob- 
lem. To their surprise, it was Lutchester who re- 
appeared upon the threshold. In his hand he held 
a small sealed packet. 

“ So sorry to disturb you all,” he apologised. I 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


117 

have something here which I believe belongs to you, 
Miss Van Teyl. I thought I’d better bring it up and 
explain. From the way your little Japanese friend 
was holding on to it, I thought it might be important. 
It is a little tom, but that isn’t my fault.” 

He held it out to Pamela. It was a long packet 
torn open at one end. From it was protruding a 
worn, brown pocketbook. Pamela’s hand closed 
upon it mechanically. There was a dazed look in her 
eyes. Fischer’s fingers stole once more towards the 
pocket into which, at Lutchester’s entrance, he had 
slipped his revolver. 


CHAPTER XIV 


Lutchester, to all appearance, remained sublimely 
unconscious of the tension which his words and ap- 
pearance seemed to have created. He had strolled 
a little further into the room, and was looking down 
at the packet which he still held. 

You are wondering how I got hold of this, of 
course he observed. ‘‘Just one of those simple 
little coincidences which either mean a great deal or 
nothing at all.” 

“ How did you know it was mine.? ” Pamela asked, 
almost under her breath. 

“ I’ll explain,” Lutchester continued. “ I was in 
the lobby of the hotel, a few minutes ago, when I 
heard the fire bell outside. I hurried out and 
w'atched the engines go by from the sidewalk. I have 
always been rather interested in — ” 

“ Never mind that, please. Go on,” Pamela asked, 
almost under her breath. 

“ Certainly,” Lutchester assented. “ On the way 
back, then, I saw a little Japanese, who was coming 
out of the hotel, knocked down by a taxicab which 
skidded nearly into the door. I don’t think he was 
badly hurt — I’m not even sure that he was hurt at 
all. I picked up this packet from the spot where he 
had been lying, and I was on the point of taking it 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


119 

to the office when I saw your name upon it, Miss 
Van Teyl, in what seemed to me to be your own 
handwriting, so I thought I’d bring it up.” 

He laid it upon the table. Pamela’s eyes seemed 
fastened upon it. She turned it over nervously. 

“ It is very kind of you, Mr. Lutchester,” she mur- 
mured. 

“ I’ll be perfectly frank,” he went on. “ I should 
have found out where the little man who dropped it 
had disappeared to, and restored it to him, but I 
fancied — of course, I may have been wrong — that 
you and he were having some sort of a disagreement, 
a few minutes ago, when I happened to come in. 
Anyway, that was in my mind, and I thought I’d run 
no risks.” 

“ You did the very kindest and most considerate 
thing,” Pamela declared. 

“ The little Japanese must have been our new 
valet,” James Van Teyl observed. “I’m beginning 
to think that he is not going to be much of an acqui- 
sition.” 

“ You’ll probably see something of him in a few 
minutes,” Lutchester remarked. “ I will wish you 
good night. Miss Van Teyl. Good night!” 

Pamela’s reiterated thanks were murmured and 
perfunctory. Even James Van Teyl’s hospitable 
instincts seemed numbed. They allowed Lutchester 
to depart with scarcely a word. With the closing 
of the door, speech brought them some relief from a 
state of tension which was becoming intolerable. 
Even then Fischer at first said nothing. He had 
risen noiselessly to his feet, his right hand was in 


120 THE PAWNS COUNT 

the sidepocket of his coat, his eyes were fixed upon 
the table. 

“ So this is why you insisted upon a valet ! ” James 
Van Teyl exclaimed, his voice thick with anger. 
“ He’s planted here to rob for you ! Is that it, eh, 
Fischer.^ ” 

Pamela drew the packet towards her and stood 
with her right palm covering it. Fischer seemed 
still at a loss for words. 

“ I can assure you,” he said at last fervently, 
‘‘ that if that packet was stolen from Miss Van Teyl 
by Nikasti, it was done without my instigation. It 
is as much a surprise to me as to any of you. We 
can congratulate ourselves that it is not on the way 
to Japan.” 

Pamela nodded. 

“ He is speaking the truth,” she asserted. Nika- 
sti is not out to steal for others. He is playing the 
same game as all of us, only he is playing it for 
his own hand. Mr. Fischer has brought him here for 
some purpose of his own, without a doubt, but I am 
quite sure that Nikasti never meant to be any one’s 
cat’s-paw.” 

“ Believe me, that is the truth,” Fischer agreed. 
‘‘ I will admit that I brought Nikasti here with a 
purpose, but upon my honour I swear that until this 
evening I never dreamed that he even knew of the 
existence of the formula.” 

“ Oh ! we are not the only people in the world who 
are clever,” Pamela declared, with an unnatural little 
laugh. “ The first man who took note of Sandy 
Graham’s silly words as he rushed into Henry’s was 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


I2I 


Baron Sunyea. I saw him stiffen as he listened. 
He even uttered a word of remonstrance. Japan in 
London heard. Japan in your sitting-room here, in 
ten days’ time, knew everything there was to be 
known.” 

“ I didn’t bring Nikasti here for this,” Fischer 
insisted. 

“ Perhaps not,” Pamela conceded, ‘‘ but if you’re 
a good American, what are you doing at all with a 
Japanese secret agent?” 

“ If you trust me, you shall know,” Fischer prom- 
ised. “ Listen to reason. Let us have finished with 
one affair at a time. You very nearly lost that 
formula to Japan. Hand over the pocketbook. 
You see how dangerous it is for it to remain in your 
possession. I’ll keep my share of the bargain. I’ll 
put my scheme before you. Come, be reasonable. 
See, here’s the forged transfer.” 

He drew a paper from his pocket and spread it 
out upon the table. His long, hairy fingers were 
shaking with nervousness. 

‘‘ Come, make it a deal,” he persisted. ‘‘ You cati 
pay me the defalcations or not, as you choose. 
There is your brother’s freedom and the honour of 
your name, in exchange for that pocketbook.” 

Pamela, after all her hesitation, seemed to make 
up her mind with startling suddenness. She thrust 
the pocketbook towards Fischer, took the transfer 
from his fingers and tore it into small pieces. 

‘‘ I give in,” she said. ‘‘ This time you have 
scored. We will talk about the other matter to- 

99 


morrow.' 


122 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


Fischer buttoned up the packet carefully in his 
breast pocket. His eyes glittered. He turned to- 
wards the door. On the threshold he looked around. 
He stretched out his hand towards Pamela. 

‘‘ Believe me, you have done well,” he assured her 
hoarsely. “ I shall keep my word. I will set you 
in the path of great things.” 

He left the room, and they heard the furious ring- 
ing of the lift bell. Pamela was tearing into smaller 
pieces the forged transfer. Van Teyl, a little pale, 
but with new life in his frame, was watching the 
fragments upon the floor. There was a tap at the 
door. Nikas ti entered. Pamela’s fingers paused in 
their task. Van Teyl stared at him. The new- 
comer was carrying the evening papers, which he 
laid down upon the table. 

‘‘ Is there anything more I can do before I go to 
bed, sir? ” he asked, with his usual reverential little 
bow. 

“ Aren’t you hurt? ” Van Teyl exclaimed. 

“Hurt?” Nikasti replied wonderingly. “Oh, 
no ! ” 

“ Weren’t you knocked down by a taxicab,” 
Pamela asked, “ outside the hotel ? ” 

Nikasti looked from one to the other with an air 
of gentle surprise. 

“ I have been to my rooms in the servants’ quar- 
ters,” he told them, “ on the upper floor. I have 
not been downstairs at all. I have been unpacking 
and arranging my own humble belongings.” 

Van Teyl clasped his forehead. 

“ Let me get this ! ” he exclaimed. “ You haven’t 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


123 

been down in the lobby of the hotel, you haven’t 
been knocked down by a taxicab that skidded, you 
haven’t lost a pocketbook which you had previously 
stolen from my sister? ” 

Nikasti shook his head. He seemed completely 
mystified. He watched Pamela’s face carefully. 

‘‘ Perhaps there has been some mistake,” he sug- 
gested quietly. “ My English is sometimes not very 
good. I would not dream of trying to rob the young 
lady. I have not lost any pocketbook. I have not 
descended lower down in the hotel than this floor.” 

Van Teyl waved him away, accepted his farewell 
salutation, and waited until the door was closed. 

“ Look here, Pamela,” he protested, turning almost 
appealingly towards her, “ my brain wasn’t made for 
this sort of thing. What in thunder does it all 
mean ? ” 

Pamela looked at the fragments of paper upon the 
floor and sank back in an easy chair. 

“ Jimmy,” she confided, “ I don’t know.” 


CHAPTER XV 


Pamela opened her eyes the next morning upon 
a distinctly pleasing sight. At the foot of her bed 
was an enormous basket of pink carnations. On 
the counterpane by her side lay a smaller cluster of 
twelve very beautiful dark red Gloire de Dijon roses. 
Attached to these latter was a note. 

“When did these flowers come, Leah.^” Pamela 
asked the maid who was moving about the room. 

“ An hour ago, madam,” the girl told her. 

“ Read the name on the card,” Pamela directed, 
pointing to the mass of pink blossoms. 

“ Mr. Oscar H. Fischer,” the girl read out, “ with 
respectful compliments.” 

Pamela smiled. 

“ He doesn’t know, then,” she murmured to her- 
self. “ Get my bath ready, Leah.” 

The maid disappeared into the inner room. 
Pamela tore open the note attached to the roses by 
her side, and read it slowly through: 

Dear Miss Van Teyl, 

I am so very sorry, but the luncheon we had half- 
planned for to-day must be postponed. I have an urgent 
message to go south, to inspect — but no secrets! It’s 
horribly disappointing. I hope we may meet in a few 
days. 

Sincerely yours, 

John Lutchester. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


125 

Pamela laid down the note, conscious of an inde- 
fined but distinct sensation of disappointment. 
After all, it was not so wonderful to wake up and 
find oneself in New York. The sun was pleasant, 
the little puffs of air which came in through the win- 
dow across the park, delightful and exhilarating, yet 
something had gone out of the day. Accustomed 
to self-analysis, she asked herself swiftly — what ? 
It was, without a doubt, something to do with 
Lutchester’s departure. She tried to face the ques- 
tion of her disappointment. Was it possible to feel 
any real interest in a man who preferred a Govern- 
ment post to the army at such a time, and who had 
brought his golf clubs out to America? Her im- 
agination for a moment revolved around the prob- 
lem of his apparently uninteresting and yet, in some 
respects, contradictory personality. Was it really 
her fancy or had she, every now and then, detected 
behind that flamboyant manner traces of something 
deeper and more serious, something which seemed 
to indicate a life and aims of which nothing ap- 
peared upon the surface? She clasped her knees 
and sat up in bed, listening to the sound of the run- 
ning water in the next room. Was there any pos- 
sible explanation of his opportune appearance on 
the night before with a dummy pocketbook and a 
concocted story? The cleverest man on earth could 
surely never have gauged her position with Fischer 
and intervened in such a manner at the psychological 
moment. 

Yet he had done it, she reflected, gazing 
thoughtfully at Fischer’s gift. If, indeed, he knew 


126 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


what was passing around him to that extent, how 
much more knowledge might he not possess? She 
felt the little silken belt around her waist. At least 
there was no one who could take Sandy Graham’s 
secret from her until she chose to give it up. Sup- 
posing for a moment that Lutchester was also out 
for the great things, was he fooled by her attitude? 
If he knew so much, he must know that the secret re- 
mained with her. Perhaps, after aU, he w’as only a 
philanderer in intrigue. . . . 

Pamela bathed and dressed, sent for her brother, 
and, to his horror, insisted upon an American break- 
fast. 

“ It’s quite time I came back to look after you, 
Jimmy,” she said severely, as she watched him send 
away his grapefruit and gaze helplessly at his bacon 
and eggs. ‘‘ You’re going to turn over a new leaf, 
young man.” 

“ I shan’t be sorry,” he confessed fervently. “ I 
tell you, Pamela, when you have a thing like this 
hanging over you, it’s hell — some hell! You just 
want to drown your thoughts and keep going all the 
time.” 

She nodded sagely. 

“ Well, that’s over now, Jimmy,” she said, “ and I 
meant you to listen to me. It’s more than likely that 
Mr. Fischer may find out at any moment that the 
mysterious pocketbook, which came from heaven 
knows where, is a faked one. He may be horrid 
about it.” 

While we are on that,” Van Teyl interrupted, 

I couldn’t sleep a wink last night for trying to im- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 127 

agine where on earth that fellow Lutchester came in, 
and what his game was.” 

“ I have a headache this morning, trying to puzzle 
out the same thing,” Pamela told him. 

“ He seems such an ordinary sort of chap,” Van 
Teyl continued thoughtfully. “ Good sportsman, no 
doubt, and all that sort of thing, but the last fellow 
in the world to concoct a yarn, and if he did, what 
was his object? ” 

‘‘ Jimmy,” his sister begged, “ let’s quit. Of 
course, I know a little more than you do, but the 
little more that I do know only makes it more con- 
fusing. Now, to make it worse, he’s gone away.” 

“ What, this morning? ” 

Gone away on his Government work,” Pamela 
announced. “ I had a note and some roses from 
him. Don’t let’s talk about it, Jimmy. I keep on 
getting new ideas, and it makes my brain whirl. I 
want to talk about you.” 

‘‘ I’m a rotten lot to talk about,” he sighed. 

She patted his hand. 

“ You’re nothing of the sort, dear, and you’ve got 
to remember now that you’re out of the trouble. But 
listen. Hurry down to the office as early as you can 
and set about straightening things out, so that if 
Mr. Fischer tries to make trouble, he won’t be able 
to do it. There’s my cheque for eighty-nine thou- 
sand dollars I made out last night before I went to 
bed,” she added, passing it over to him. Just re- 
place what stocks you’re short of and get yourself 
out of the mess, and don’t waste any time about it.’' 

His face glowed as he looked across the table. 


128 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


YouVe the most wonderful sister, Pamela.” 

“Nonsense!” she interrupted. “Nonsense! I 
ought not to have left you alone all this time, and, 
besides, I’m pretty sure he helped you into this 
trouble for his own ends. Anyway, we are all right 
now. I shall be in New York for a few days before 
I go to Washington. When I do go, you must see 
whether you can get leave and come with me.” 

“ That’s bully,” he declared. “ I’ll get leave, right 
enough. There’s never been less doing in Wall 
Street. But say, Pamela, I don’t seem to half un- 
derstand what’s going on* You’ve given up most 
of your friends, and you spend months away there 
in Europe in all sorts of corners. Now you come 
back and you seem mixed up in regular secret serv- 
ice work. Where do you come in, anyway What 
are you going to Washington for.^” 

She smiled. 

“ Queer tastes, haven’t I, Jimmy ? ” 

“ Queer for a girl.” 

“ That’s prejudice,” she objected, shaking her 
head. “ Nowadays there are few things a woman 
can’t do. To tell you the truth, my new interest in 
life started three years ago, when Uncle Theodore 
found out that I was going to Rome for the winter.” 

“ So Uncle Theodore started it, did he.^^ ” 

She nodded. 

“ That’s the worst of having an uncle in the Ad- 
ministration, isn’t it? Well, of course, he gave me 
letters to every one in Rome, and I found out what 
he wanted quite easily, and without the inquiries 
going through the Embassy at all. Sometimes, as 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


129. 

you can understand, that’s a great advantage. I 
found it simply fascinating — the work, I mean — 
and after three or four more commissions — well, 
they recognised me at Washington. I have been to 
most of the capitals in Europe at different times, 
with small affairs to arrange at each, or informa- 
tion to get. Sometimes it’s been just about com- 
mercial things. Since the war, though, of course, 
it’s been more exciting than ever. If I were an 
Englishwoman instead of an American, I could tell 
them some things in London which they’d find pretty 
surprising. It’s not my affair, though, and I keep 
what information I do pick up until it works in with 
something else for our own good. I knew quite well 
in Berlin, for instance, to speak of something you’ve 
heard of, that Henry’s Restaurant in London was 
being used as a centre of espionage by the Germans. 
That is why I wafe on the lookout, the day I went 
there.” 

“ You mean the day that pocketbook was stolen 
that the whole world seems crazy about ” Van Teyl 
asked. 

She nodded. 

“ I believe it is perfectly true,” she said, “ that a 
young man called Graham has invented an entirely 
new explosive, the formula for which he brought 
to Henry’s with him that day. It isn’t only what 
happens when the shell explodes, but a sort of 
putrefaction sets in all round, and they say that 
everything within a mile dies. There were spies 
down even watching his experiments. There were 
spies following him up to London, there were spies 


130 THE PAWNS COUNT 

in Henry’s Restaurant when like a fool he gave the 
thing away. Fischer was the ringleader of this lot, 
and he meant having the formula from Graham that 
night. I don’t want to bore you, Jimmy, but I got 
there first.” 

‘‘ Bore me ! ” the young man repeated. ‘‘ Why, 
it’s like a modern Arabian Nights. I can’t imagine 
you in the thick of this sort of thing, Pamela.” 

‘‘ It’s very easy to slip into the way of anything 
you like,” she answered. “ I knew exactly what 
they were going to do to Captain Graham, and I 
got there before them. When they searched him, 
the formula had gone. Fischer caught my steamer 
and worried me all the way over. He thought he 
had us in a corner last night, and then a miracle 
happened.” 

“ You mean that fellow Lutchester turning up.^^ ” 

“ Yes, I mean that,” Pamela admitted. 

“ Say, didn’t that Jap fellow get the pocketbook 
from your rooms at all, then.?* ” Van Teyl asked. “ I. 
couldn’t follow it all last night.” 

“ He searched my rooms,” Pamela replied, and 
failed to find it. Afterwards, when he and I were 
alone in your sitting-room, heaven knows what 
would have happened, but for the miraculous arrival 
of Mr. Lutchester, whom I had left behind in Lon- 
don, come to pay an evening call in the Hotel Plaza, 
New York ! ” 

Van Teyl shook his head slowly, got up from his 
seat, lit a cigarette, and came back again. 

‘‘ Pam,” he confessed, my brain won’t stand it. 
You’re not going to tell me that Lut Chester’s in the 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


131 

game? Why, a simpler sort of fellow I never spoke 
to.” 

“ I can't make up my own mind about Mr. 
Lutchester,” Pamela sighed. “ He helped me in 
London on the night I sailed — in fact, he was very 
useful indeed — but why he invented that story about 
Nikasti, brought a dummy pocketbook into the room 
and helped us out of all our troubles, unless it was 
by sheer and brilliant instinct, I cannot imagine.” 

“ Let me get on to this,” Van Teyl said. ‘‘ Even 
the pocketbook was a fake, then? ” 

She nodded. 

I shouldn’t be likely to leave things I risk my 
life for about my bedroom,” she told him. 

“ Where is it, then — the real tiling? ” he asked. 

She smiled. 

‘‘ If you must know, Jimmy,” she confided, drop- 
ping her voice, “ it’s in a little compartment of a 
silk belt around my waist. It will remain there until 
I get to Washington, or until Mr. Haskall comes to 
me.” 

“ Haskall, the Government explosives man? ” 

Pamela nodded. 

‘‘ Even he won’t get it without Government author- 
ity.” 

‘‘Now, tell me, Pamela,” Van Teyl went on — 
“ you’re a far-seeing girl — I suppose we should get 
it in the neck from Germany some day or other, if 
the Gennans won? Why don’t you hand the formula 
over to the British, and give them a chance to get 
ahead? ” 

“ That’s a sensible question, Jimmy, and I’U try 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


132 

to answer it,” Pamela promised. “ Because when 
once the shells are made and used, the secret will 
be gone. I think it very likely that it would enable 
England to win the war; but, you see, I am an 
American, not English, and I’m all American. I 
have been in touch with things pretty closely for 
some time now, and I see trouble ahead for us before 
very long. I can’t exactly tell you where it’s coming 
from, but I feel it. I want America to have some- 
thing up her sleeve, that’s why.” 

“ You’re a great girl, Pamela,” her brother de- 
clared. “ I’m off downtown, feeling a different man. 
And, Pamela, I haven’t said much, but God bless 
you, and as long as I live I’m going as straight as a 
die. I’ve had my lesson.” 

He bent over her a little clumsily and kissed her. 
Pamela walked to the door with him. 

Be a dear,” she called out, ‘‘ and come back early. 
And, Jimmy ! ” . . . 

‘‘ Hullo? ” 

“ Put things right at the office at once,” she whis- 
pered with emphasis. “ Fischer hasn’t found out 
yet. I sent him a message this morning, thanking 
him for the carnations, and asking him to walk 
with me in the park after breakfast. I shall keep 
him away till lunch time, at least.” 

The young man looked at her, and at Nikasti, who 
out in the corridor was holding his hat and cane. 
Then he chuckled. 

“ And they say that things don’t happen in New 
York! ” he murmured, as he turned away. 


CHAPTER XVI 


An elderly New Yorker, a man of fashion, re- 
nowned for his social perceptions, pressed his com- 
panion’s arm at the entrance to Central Park and 
pointed to Pamela. 

“ There goes a typical New York girl,” he said, 
“ and the best-looking I’ve seen for many a long 
day. You can go all round Europe, Freddie, and 
not see a girl with a face and figure like that. She 
had that frank way, too, of looking you in the 
eyes.” 

“ I know,” the other assented. ‘‘ Gibson’s girls 
all had it. Kind of look which seems to say — ‘ I 
know 3^ou find me nice and I don’t mind. I wonder 
whether you’re nice, too.’ ” 

Pamela strolled along the park with Fischer by 
her side. She wore a tailor-made costume of black 
and white tweed, and a smart hat, in which yellow 
seemed the predominating colour. Her shoes, her 
gloves, the little tie about her throat, were all the 
last word in the simple elegance of suitability. 
Fischer walked by her side — a powerful, determined 
figure in a carefully-pressed blue serge suit and a 
brown Homburg hat. He wore a rose in his button- 
hole, and he carried a cane — both unusual circum- 
stances. After fifty years of strenuous living, Mr^ 


134 the pawns count 

Eischer seemed suddenly to have found a new thing 
in the world. 

“ This is a pleasant idea of yours, Miss Van 
Teyl,” he said. 

‘‘ I haven’t disturbed your morning, I hope.^ ” she 
asked. 

“ I guess, if you have, it isn’t the way you mean,” 
he replied. “ You’ve disturbed a good deal of my 
time and thoughts lately.” 

Well, you’ve had your own way now,” she 
sighed, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. 
“ I suppose you always get your own way in the 
end, don’t you, Mr. Fischer? ” 

‘‘ Generally,” he admitted. “ I tell you, though. 
Miss Van Teyl,” he went on earnestly, ‘‘ if you’re 
alluding to last night’s affair, I hated the whole 
business. It was my duty, and the opportunity was 
there, but with what I have I am satisfied. With ref- 
erence to that little debt of your brother’s — ” 

“ Please don’t say a word, Mr. Fischer,” she inter- 
rupted. ‘‘ You will find that all put right as soon 
as you get down to Wall Street. Tell me, what 
have you done with your prize? ” 

Mr. Fischer looked very humble. 

“ Miss Van Teyl,” he said, “ for certain reasons I 
am going to tell you the truth. Perhaps it will be 
the best in the long run. We may even before long 
be working together. So I start by being honest 
with you. The pocketbook is by now on its way to 
Germany.” 

To Germany ? ” she exclaimed. “ And after all 
yrour promises 1 ” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


135 


“ Ah, but think, Miss Van Teyl,” he pleaded. “ I 
throw aside all subterfuge. In your heart you know 
well what I am and what I stand for. I deny it no 
longer. I am a German-American, working for 
Germany, simply because America does not need 
my help. If America were at war with any country 
in the world, my brains, my knowledge, my wealth 
would be hers. But now it is different. Germany 
is surrounded by many enemies, and she calls for 
her sons all over the world to remember the Father- 
land. You can sympathise a little with my unfor- 
tunate country. Miss Van Teyl, and yet remain a 
good American. You are not angry with me? ” 

“ I suppose I ought to be, but I am not in the 
least,” she assured him. “ I never had any doubt 
as to the destination of that packet.” 

That,” he admitted, “ is a relief to me. Let us 
wipe the matter from our memories. Miss Van Tejd.” 

“ One word,” she begged, “ and that only of curigs- 
itv. Did you examine the contents of the pocket- 
book?” 

He turned his head and looked at her. For a 
moment he had lost the greater spontaneity of his 
new self. He was again the cold, calculating ma- 
chine. 

“ No,” he answered, except to take out and de- 
stroy what seemed to be a few private memoranda. 
There was a bill for flowers, a note from a young 
lady — some rubbish of that sort. The remaining 
papers were all calculations and figures, chemical 
formulae.” 

“Are you a chemist, Mr. Fischer?” she inquired- 


136 THE PAWNS COUNT 

Not in the least,” he acknowledged. “ I recog- 
nised just enough of the formulae on the last page 
to realise that there were entirely new elements be- 
ing dealt with.” 

She nodded. 

“ I only asked out of curiosity. I agree. Let us 
put it out of our thoughts. You see, I am generous. 
We have fought a battle, you and I, and I have lost. 
Yet we remain friends.” 

“ It is more than your friendship that I want. Miss 
Van Teyl,” he pleaded, his voice shaking a little. ‘‘ I 
am years older than you, I know, and, by your 
standards, I fear unattractive. But you love power, 
and I have it. I will take you into my schemes. I 
will show you how those live who stand behind the 
xilouds and wield the thunders.” 

She looked at him with genuine surprise. It was 
necessary to readjust some of her impressions of 
him. Oscar Fischer was, after all, a human be- 
ing. 

‘‘ What you say is ail very well so far as it goes,” 
she told him. I admit that a life of scheming and 
adventure attracts me. I love power. I can think 
of nothing more wonderful than to feel the machinery 
of the world — the political world — roar or die 
away, according to the touch of one’s fingers. Oh, 
yes, we’re alike so far as that is concerned! But 
there is a very vital difference. You are only an 
American by accident. I am one by descent. For 
me there doesn’t exist any other country. For you 
Germany comes first.” 

‘‘ But can’t you realise,” he went on eagerly, ‘‘ that 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


137 


even this is for the best? America to-day is hypno- 
tised by a maudlin, sentimental affection for Eng- 
land, a country from whom she never received any- 
thing but harm. We want to change that. We 
want to kill for ever the misunderstandings between 
the two greatest nations in the world. My creed of 
life could be yours, too, without a single lapse from 
your patriotism. Friendship, alliance, brotherhood, 
betw^een Germany and America. That would be my 
text.” 

‘‘Shall I be perfectly frank?” Pamela asked. 

“ Nothing else is worth while,” was the instant 
answer. 

“ Well, then,” she continued, “ I can quite see that 
Germany has everything to gain from America’s 
friendship, but I cannot see the quid pro quo.” 

“ And yet it is so clear,” Fischer insisted. “ Your 
own cloud may not be very large just now, but it is 
growing, and, before you know it, it will be upon 
you. Can you not realise why Japan is keeping 
out of this war? She is conserving her strength. 
Millions flow into her coffers week by week. In a 
few years time, Japan, for the first time in her 
history, will know what it is to possess solid wealths 
What does she want it for, do you think? She has 
no dreams of European aggression, or her soldiers 
would be fighting there now. China is hers for the 
taking, a rich prize ready to fall into her mouth at 
any moment. But the end and aim of all Japanese 
policy, the secret Mecca of her desires, is to repay 
with the sword the insults your country has heaped 
upon her. It is for that, believe me, that her 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


138 

arsenals are working night and day, her soldiers are 
training, her fleet is in reserve. While you haggle 
about a few volunteers, Japan is strengthening and 
perfecting a mighty army for one purpose and one 
purpose only. Unless you wake up, you will be in 
the position that Great Britain was in two years 
ago. Even now, work though you may, you will 
never wholly make up for lost time. The one chance 
for you is friendship with Germany.” 

Will Germany be in a position to help us after 
the war ? ” Pamela asked. 

Never doubt it,” Fischer replied vehemently. 

Before peace is signed the sea power of England 
will be broken. Financially she will be ruined. She 
is a country without economic science, without fore- 
sight, without statesmen. The days of her golden 
opportunities have passed, frittered away. Unless 
we of our great pity bind up her wounds, England 
will bleed to death before the war is over.” 

That, you must remember,” Pamela said prac- 
tically, “ is your point of view.” 

I could tell you things — ” he began. 

“ Don’t,” she begged. “ I know what your out- 
look is now. Be definite. Leaving aside that other 
matter, what is your proposition to me.^ ” 

Fischer walked for a while in silence. They had 
turned back some time since, and were once more 
nearing the Plaza. 

“ You ask me to leave out what is most vital,” 
he said at last. I have never been married. Miss 
Van Teyl. I am wealthy. I am promised great 
honours at the end of this war. When that comes. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


139 

I shall rest. If you will be my wife, you can choose 
your home, you can choose your title.” 

She shook her head. 

“ But I am not sure that I even like you, Mr. 
Fischer,” she objected. “ We have fought in oppo- 
site camps, and you have had the bad taste to be 
victorious. Besides which, you were perfectly brutal 
to J ames, and I am not at all sure that I don’t resent 
your bargain with me. As a matter of fact, I am 
feeling very bitter towards you.” 

“ You should not,” he remonstrated earnestly. 
‘‘ Remember that, after all, women are only dabblers 
in diplomacy. Their very physique prevents them 
from playing the final game. You have brains, of 
course, but there are other things — experience, 
courage, resource. You would be a wonderful help- 
mate, Miss Van Teyl, even if your individual and 
unaided efforts have not been entirely successful.” 

She sighed. Pamela just then was a picture of 
engaging humility. 

‘‘ It is so hard for me,” she murmured. ‘‘ I do 
not want to marry yet. I do not wish to think of 
it. And so far as you are concerned, Mr. Fischer 
— well, I am simply furious when I think of your 
attitude last night. But I love adventures.” 

“ I will promise you all the adventures that can 
be crammed into your life,” he urged. 

“ But be more definite,” she persisted. “ Where 
should we start You are over here now on some 
important mission. Tell me more about it.^ ” 

“ I cannot just yet,” he answered. ‘‘ All that I 
can promise you is that, if I am successful, it will 


.^40 THE PAWNS COUNT 

: 3 top the war just as surely as Captain Graham’s new 
^plosive.” 

I thought you were going to make a confidante 
of me,” she complained. 

He suddenly gripped her arm. It was the first 
time he had touched her, and she felt a queer surging 
of the blood to her head, a sudden and almost uncon- 
trollable repulsion. The touch of his long fingers 
was like flame ; his eyes, behind their sheltering 
.'Spectacles, glowed in a curious, disconcerting fash- 
ion. 

To the woman who was my pledged wife,” he 
said, I would tell everything. From the woman 
who gave me her hand and became my ally I would 
have no secrets. Come, I have a message, more 
than a message, to the American people. I am tak- 
ing it to Washington before many hours have passed. 
If it is your will, it should be you to whom I will 
deliver it.” 

Pamela walked on with her head in the air. 
Fischer was leaning a little towards her. Every 
now and then his mouth twitched slightly. His eyes 
seemed to be seeking to reach the back of her brain. 

Please go now,” she begged. “ I can’t think 
clearly while you are here, and I want to make up 
jny mind. I will send to you when I am ready,” 


CHAPTER XVII 


Pamela sat that afternoon on the balcony of the 
country club at Baltusrol and approved of her sur- 
roundings. Below her stretched a pleasant vista of 
rolling greensward, dotted here and there with the 
figures of the golfers. Beyond, the misty blue back- 
ground of rising hills. 

‘‘ I can’t tell you how peaceful this all seems, 
Jimmy,” she said to her brother, who had brought 
her out in his automobile. “ One doesn’t notice the 
air of strain over on the Continent, because it’s the 
same everywhere, but it gets a little on one’s nerves, 
all the same. I positively love it here.” 

“ It’s fine to have you,” was the hearty response. 
“ Gee, that fellow coming to the sixteenth hole can 
play some ! ” 

Pamela directed her attention idly towards the 
figure which her brother indicated — a man in light 
tweeds, who played with an easy and graceful 
swing, and with the air of one to whom the game 
presented no difficulties whatever. She watched him 
drive for the seventeenth — a long, raking ball, fully 
fifty yards further than his opponent’s — watched 
him play a perfect mashie shot to the green and hole 
out in three. 

‘‘ A birdie,” James Van Teyl murmured. ‘‘ I say, 
Pamela!” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


142 

She took no notice. Her eyes were still follow- 
ing the figure of the golfer. She watched him drive 
at the last hole, play a chip shot on to the green, 
and hit the hole for a three. The frown deepened 
upon her forehead. She was looking very uncom- 
promising when the two men ascended the steps. 

“ I didn’t know, Mr. Lutchester, that there were 
any factories down this way,” she remarked severely, 
as he paused before her in surprise. 

For a single moment she fancied that she saw a 
flash of annoyance in his eyes. It was gone so 
swiftly, however, that she remained uncertain. He 
held out his hand, laughing. 

‘‘Fairly caught out, Miss Van Teyl,” he con- 
fessed. “ You see, I was tempted, and I fell.” 

His companion, an elderly, clean-shaven man, 
passed on. Pamela glanced after him. 

“ Who is your opponent ? ” she asked. 

“ Just some one I picked up on the tee,” Lut- 
chester explained. “ How is our friend Fischer this 
morning.^^ ” 

“ I walked with him for an hour in the Park,” 
Pamela replied. “ He seemed quite cheerful. * I 
have scarcely thanked you yet for returning the 
pocketbook, have I ? ” 

His face was inscrutable. 

“ Couldn’t keep a thing that didn’t belong to me, 
could I ? ” he observed. 

“ You have a marvellous gift for discovering lost 
property,” she murmured. 

“ For discovering the owners, you mean,” he re- 
torted, with a little bow. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 143 

“ You’re some golfer, I see, Mr. Lut Chester,” Van 
Teyl interposed. 

“ I was on mj game to-day,” Lut Chester admitted. 
‘‘ With a little luck at the seventh,” he continued 
earnestly, “ I might have tied the amateur record. 
You see, my ball — but there, I mustn’t bore you 
now. I must look after my opponent and stand him 
a drink. We shall meet again, I daresay.” 

Lutchester passed on, and Pamela glanced up at 
her brother. 

“ Is he a sphinx or a fool.? ” she whispered. 

“ Don’t ask me,” Van Teyl replied. “ Seems to 
me you were a bit rough on him, anyway. I don’t 
see why the fellow shouldn’t have a day’s holiday 
before he gets to work. If I had his swing, it 
would interfere with my career, I know that, well 
enough.” 

“ Did you recognise the man with whom he was 
playing.? ” Pamela inquired. 

“ Can’t say that I did. His face seems familiar, 
too.” 

‘‘ Go and see if you can find out his name,” Pamela 
begged. It isn’t ordinary curiosity. I really 
want to know.” 

“ That’s easy enough,” Van Teyl replied, rising 
from his place. ‘‘ And I’ll order tea at the same 
time.” 

Pamela leaned a little further back in her chair. 
Her eyes seemed to be fixed upon the pleasant pros- 
pect of wooded slopes and green, upward-stretching 
sward. As a matter of fact, she saw only two faces 
— Fischer’s and Lutchester’s. Her chief impulse in 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


144 

life for the immediate present seemed to have re- 
solved itself into a fierce, almost a passionate curios- 
ity. It was the riddle of those two brains which 
she was so anxious to solve. . . . Fischer, the 
cold, subtle intriguer, with schemes at the back of 
his mind which she knew quite well that,, even in 
the moment of his weakness, he intended t#keep to 
himself ; and Lutchester, with his almost cynical^de- 
votion to pleasure, yet with his unaccountable habit 
of suggesting a strength and qualities to which he 
neither laid nor established any claim. Of the two 
men it was Lutchester who piqued her, with whom 
she would have found more pleasure in the battle of 
wits. She found herself alternately furious and 
puzzled with him, yet her uneasiness concerning 
him possessed more disquieting, more fascinating 
possibilities than any of the emotions inspired b}'^ 
the other man. 

Van Teyl returned to her presently, a little im- 
pressed. 

Thought I knew that chap’s face,” he observed. 

It’s Eli Hamblin — Senator Hamblin, you know.” 

“ A friend and confidant of the President,” she 
murmured. A Westerner, too. I wonder what 
he’s doing here • • • Jimmy ! ” 

“Hallo, Sis. 

“You’ve just got to be a dear,” Pamela begged. 
“ Go to the caddy master, or professional, or some 
one, and find out whether Mr. Lutchester met him 
here by accident or whether they arrived together.” 

“You’ll turn me into a regular sleuthhound,” he 
laughed. “ However, here goes.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


145 

He strollei off again, and Pamela found herself 
forced to become mundane and frivolous whilst she 
chatted with some newly-arrived acquaintances. 
It was not until some little time after her brother’s 
return that she found herself alone with him. 

Well? ” she asked eagerly. 

‘‘ They arrived wdthin a few minutes of one an- 
other,” Van Teyl announced. ‘‘ Senator Hamblin 
bought a couple of new balls and made some in- 
quiries about the course, but said nothing about 
playing. Lutchester, who appears not to have 
known him, came up later and asked him if he’d like 
a game. That’s all I could find out.” 

Pamela pointed to a little cloud of dust in the 
distance. 

“ And there they go,” she observ^ed, ‘‘ together.” 

Van Teyl threw himself into a chair and accepted 
the cup of tea which his sister handed him. 

Well,” he inquired, what do you make of 
it? ” 

There’s more in that question than you think, 
James,” Pamela replied. ‘‘ All the same, I think I 
shall be able to answer it in a few days.” 

Another little crowd of acquaintances discovered 
them, and Pamela was soon surrounded by a fresh 
group of admirers. They all went out presently to 
inspect the new tennis courts. Pamela and her 
brother w^ere beset with invitations. 

You positively must stay down and dine with us, 
and go home by moonlight,” Mrs. Saunders, a 
lively young matron with a large country house close 
by, insisted. “ Jimmy’s neglected me terribly these 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


146 

last few months, and as for you, Pamela, I haven’t 
seen you for a year.” 

“ I’d love to if we can,” Pamela assured her, “ but 
Jimmy will have to telephone first.” 

‘‘ Then do be quick about it,” Mrs. Saunders 
begged. ‘‘ It doesn’t matter a bit about clothes. 
We’ve twenty people staying in the house now, and 
half of us won’t change, if that makes you more 
comfortable. Jimmy, if you fail at that telephone 
I’ll never forgive you.” 

But Van Teyl, who had caught the little motion 
of his sister’s head towards the city, proved equal 
to the occasion. He returned presently, driving the 
car. 

‘‘ Got to go,” he announced as he made his fare- 
wells. ‘‘ Can’t be helped, Pamela. Frightfully 
sorry, Mrs. Saunders, we are wanted up in New 
York.” 

Pamela sighed. 

‘‘ I was so afraid of it,” she regretted as she waved 
her adieux. . . . 

An hour or so later the city broke before them in 
murky waves. Pamela, who had been leaning back 
in the car, deep in thought, sat up. 

‘‘ You are a perfect dear, James,” she said. ‘‘ Do 
you think you could stand having Mr. Fischer to 
dinner one evening this week ? ” 

‘‘ Sure ! ” he replied, a little curiously. If you 
want to keep friends with him for any reason, I 
don’t bear him any ill-will.” 

‘‘I just want to talk to him,” Pamela murmured, 
“ that’s all.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


There was a ripple of interest and a good deal of 
curiosity that afternoon, in the lounge and entrance 
hall of the Hotel Plaza, when a tall, grey-moustached 
gentleman of military bearing descended from the 
automobile which had brought him from the station, 
and handed in his name at the desk, inquiring for 
Mr. Fischer. 

‘‘ Will you send my name up — the Baron von 
Schwerin,” he directed. 

The clerk, who had recognised the newcomer, took 
him under his personal care. 

‘‘ Mr. Fischer is up in his rooms, expecting you, 
Baron,” he announced. If you’ll come this way. 
I’ll take you up.” 

The Baron followed his guide to the lift and along 
the corridor to the suite of rooms occupied by Mr. 
Fischer and his young friend, James Van Teyl. Mr. 
Fischer himself opened the door. The two men 
clasped hands cordially, and the clerk discreetly 
withdrew. 

‘‘ Back with us once more, Fischer,” Von 
Schwerin exclaimed fervently. You are wonderful. 
Tell me,” he added, looking around, ‘‘ we are to be 
alone here ? ” 

“ Absolutely,” Fischer replied. “ The young man 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


148 

I share these apartments with — James Van Teyl — 
has taken his sister out to Baltusrol. They will 
not be back until seven o’clock. We are sure of 
solitude.” 

“Good!” Von Schwerin exclaimed. “And you 
have news — I can see it in your face.” 

Fischer rolled up easy chairs and produced a box 
of cigars. 

“ Yes,” he assented, with a little glitter in his 
eyes, “ I have news. Things have moved with me. 
I think that, with the help of an idiotic English- 
man, we shall solve the riddle of what our pro- 
fessors have called the consuming explosive. I sent 
the formula home to Germany, by a trusty hand, 
only a few hours ago.” 

“ Capital ! ” Von Schwerin declared. It was ar- 
ranged in London, that ” 

“ Partly in London and partly here,” Fischer 
replied. 

Von Schwerin made a grimace. 

“ If you can find those who are willing to help 
you here, you are fortunate indeed,” he sighed. 
“ My life’s work has lain amongst these people. In 
the days of peace, all seemed favourable to us. 
Since the war, even those people whom I thought my 
friends seem to have lost their heads, to have lost 
their reasoning powers.” 

“ After all,” Fischer muttered, “ it is race calling 
to race. But come, we have more direct business 
on hand. Nikasti is here.” 

Von Schwerin nodded a little gloomily. 

“ Washington knows nothing of his coming,” he 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


149 

observed. I attended the Baron Yung’s reception 
last week, informally. I threw out very broad hints, 
but Yung would not be drawn. Nikasti represents 
the Secret Service of Japan, unofficially and without 
responsibility.” 

“ Nevertheless,” Fischer pointed out, what he 
says will reach the ear of his country, and reach 
it quickly. You’ve gone through the papers I sent 
you ? ” 

“ Carefully,” Von Schwerin replied. ' “ And the 
autograph letter.^ ” 

“ That I have,” Fischer announced. I will fetch 
Nikasti.” 

He crossed the room and opened the door leading 
into the bedchambers. 

“ Are you there, Kato ? ” he cried. 

“ I am coming, sir,” was the instant reply. 

Nikasti appeared, a few moments later. He was 
carrying a dress coat on his arm, and he held a 
clothes brush in his hand. It was obvious that he 
had studied with nice care the details of his new 
part. 

“ You can sit down, Nikasti,” Fischer invited. 
“ This is the Baron von Schwerin. He has some- 
thing to say to you.” 

Nikasti bowed very low. He declined the chair, 
however, to which Fischer pointed. 

“ I am your valet and the valet of Mr. Van Teyl,” 
he murmured. ‘‘ It is not fitting for me to be seated. 
I listen.” 

Von Schwerin drew his chair a little nearer. 

I plunge at once,” he said, “ into the middle of 


150 THE PAWNS COUNT 

things. There is always the fear that we may be 
disturbed.” 

Nikasti inclined his head. 

“ It is best,” he agreed. 

‘‘ You are aware,” Von Schwerin continued, “ that 
the Imperial Government of Germany has already 
made formal overtures, through a third party, to the 
Emperor of Japan with reference to an alteration in 
our relations ? ” 

There was talk of this in Tokio,” Nikasti ob- 
served softly. “ Japan, however, is under obliga- 
tions — treaty obligations. Her honour demands 
that these should be kept.” ' 

“ The honour of a country,” Baron von Schwerin 
acknowledged, “ is, without doubt, a sacred charge 
upon her rulers, but above all things in heaven or on 
earth, the interests of her people must be their first 
consideration. If a time should come when the two 
might seem to clash, then it is the task of the states- 
man to recognise this fact.” 

Nikasti bowed. 

“ It is spoken,” he confessed, “ like a great man.” 

‘‘Your country,” Von Schwerin continued, “is at 
war with mine because it seemed to her rulers that 
her interests lay with the Allies rather than with 
Germany. I will admit that my country was at 
fault. We did not recognise to its full extent the 
value of friendship with Japan. We did not bid 
high enough for your favours. Asia concerned us 
very little. We looked upon the destruction of our 
interests there in the same spirit as that with which 
we contemplated the loss of our colonies. All that 


THE PAWNS COUNT 151 

might happen would be temporary. Our influence 
in Asia, our colonies, will remain with us or perish, 
according to the result of the war in Europe. But 
our statesmen overlooked one thing.” 

‘‘ Our factories,” Nikasti murmured. 

“ Precisely! We have had our agents all over the 
world for years. Some are good, a few are easily 
deceived. There is no country in the world where 
apparently so much liberty is granted to foreign- 
ers as in Japan. There is no country where 
the capacity for manufacture and output has 
been so grossly underestimated by our agents, as 
yours.” 

Nikasti smiled. 

“ I had something to do with that,” he announced. 
‘‘ It was Karl Neumann, was it not, on whom you 
relied.^ I supplied him with much information.” 

Von Schwerin’s face clouded for a moment. 

“ You mean that you fooled him, I suppose,” he 
said. “Well, it is all part of the game. That is 
over now. We want your exports to Russia 
stopped.” 

“ Ah ! ” Nikasti murmured reflectively. “ Stopped 1 ” 

“ We ask no favours,” Von Schwerin continued. 
“ The issue of the war is written across the face of 
the skies for those who care to read.” 

Nikasti looked downwards at the dress coat which 
he was carrying. Then he glanced up at Von 
Schwerin. 

“ Perhaps our eyes have been dazzled,” he said. 
“ Will you not interpret? ” 

“ The end of the war will be a peace of exhaus- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


152 

tion,” Von Schwerin explained. “ Our loftier dreams 
of conquest we must abandon. Germany has played 
her part, but Austria, alas ! has failed. Peace will 
leave us all very much where we were. Very well, 
then, I ask you, what has Japan gained.? You 
answer China? I deny it. Yet even if it were true, 
it will take you five hundred years to make a great 
country of China. Suppose for a moment you had 
been on the other side. What about Australia ? 
. . . New Zealand?” 

‘‘Are those things under present consideration? ” 
Nikasti queried. 

“Why not?” Von Schwerin replied. “Listen. 
Close your exports to Russia within the next thirty 
days. Build up for yourselves a stock of ammuni- 
tion, add to your fleet, and prepare. Within a year 
of the cessation of war, there is no reason why your 
national dream should not be realised. Your fleet 
may sail for San Francisco. The German fleet shall 
make a simultaneous attack upon the eastern coast 
of Massachusetts and New York.” 

“ The German fleet,” Nikasti repeated. “ And 
England? ” 

Von Schwerin’s eyes flashed for a moment. 

“ If the English fleet is still in being,” he declared, 
“ it will be a crippled and defeated fleet, but, for the 
sake of your point of view, I will assume that it 
exists. Even then there will be nothing to prevent 
the German fleet from steaming in what waters it 
pleases. If our shells fall upon New York on the 
day when your warships are sighted off the Cali- 
fornian coast, do you suppose that America could 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


153 

resist? With her seaboard, her fleet is contemptible. 
For her wealth, her army is a farce. She has neg- 
lected for a great many years to pay her national 
insurance. She is the one country in the world who 
can be bled for the price of empires.’’ 

Fischer, who had been smoking furiously, spat 
out the end of a fresh cigar. 

‘‘ It will be a just retribution,” he interposed, with 
smothered fierceness. “ Under the guise of neu- 
trality, America has been responsible for the lives 
of hundreds of thousands of my countrymen. That 
we never can, we never shall, forget. The wealth 
which makes these people fat is blood-money, and 
Germany will take her vengeance.” 

For whom do you speak? ” Nikasti inquired. 

Von Schwerin rose from his place, 

‘‘ For the greatest of all.” 

Do I take anything but words to Tokio ? ” the 
Japanese asked softly. 

Fischer unfolded a pocketbook and drew from it 
a parchment envelope. 

“ You take this letter,” he said, “ which I brought 
over myself from Berlin, signed and written not more 
than three weeks ago. I ask you to believe in no 
vague promises. I bring you the pledged faith of 
the greatest ruler on earth. What do you say, 
Nikasti? Will you accept our mission? Will you 
go back to Tokio and see the Emperor? ” 

Nikasti bowed. 

“ I will go back,” he promised. ‘‘ I will sail as 
soon as I can make arrangements. But I cannot 
tell you what the issue may be. We Japanese are 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


154 

not a self-seeking nation. Above and higher than 
all things are our ideals and our honour. I cannot 
tell what answer our Sovereign may give to this.” 

“ These are the days when the truest patriotism 
demands the most sublime sacrifices,” Von Schwerin 
declared. ‘‘ Above aU the ethics of individuals comes 
the supreme necessity of self-preservation.” 

The Japanese smiled slightly. 

“ Ah ! ” he said, ‘‘ there speaks the philosophy of 
your country, Baron, the psean of materialism.” 

“ The destinies of nations,” Baron von Schwerin 
exclaimed, are above the man-made laws of a sen- 
timental religion! One needs, nowadays, more than 
to survive. It is necessary to flourish.” 

Nikasti stood suddenly to attention. 

“ It is Mr. Van Teyl who returns,” he warned 
them. 

He glided from the room, shaking out a little the 
dress coat which he had been carrying. The two 
men looked after him. Fischer threw his cigar 
savagely away and lit another. 

“ Curse these orientals ! ” he muttered. They 
listen and listen, and one never knows. Van Teyl 
won’t be here for hours. That was just an excuse 
to get away.” 

But there was a smile of triumph on Von 
Schwerin’s lips. 

“ I know them better than you do, Fischer,” he 
declared. ‘‘ Nikasti is our man 1 ” 


CHAPTER XIX 


High up in one of the topmost chambers of the 
Hotel Plaza, Nikasti, after his conference with Von 
Schwerin and Fischer, sought solitude. He opened 
the high windows, out of which he could scarcely see, 
drgtgged up a chest of drawers and perched himself. 
Oriental fashion, on the top, his long yellow fingers 
intertwined around his knees, his soft brown eyes 
gazing over the wooded slopes of the Park. He was 
away from the clamour of tongues, from the poisoned 
clouds of sophistry, even from the disturbance of his 
own thoughts, incited by specious arguments to some 
form of reciprocity. Here he sat in the clouds and 
searched for the true things. His eyes seemed to 
be travelling over the battlefields of Europe. He 
saw the swaying fortunes of mighty armies, he looked 
into council chambers, he seemed to feel the pulses of 
the great world force which kept going this most 
amazing Juggernaut. He saw the furnaces of 
Japan, blazing by night and day; saw the forms of 
hundreds of thousands of his fellow creatures bent 
to their task; saw the streams of ships leaving his 
ports, laden down with stores ; saw the great guns 
speeding across Siberia, the endless trains of ammu- 
nition, the rifles, food for the famine-stricken giants 
who beat upon the air with empty fists. He saw the 
gold come streaming back. He saw it poured into 


156 THE PAWNS COUNT 

the banks, the pockets of the merchants, the homes of 
his people. He saw brightening days throughout 
the land. He saw the slow but splendid strength of 
the nation rejoicing in its new possibilities. And 
beyond that, what? Wealth was the great means 
towards the great end, but if the great end were once 
lost sight of, there was no more hideous poison than 
that stream of enervating prosperity. He remem- 
bered his own diatribes concerning the decadence of 
England; how he had pointed to the gold poison, to 
the easy living of the poor, the blatant luxury of the 
rich. He had pointed to the soft limbs, the cities 
which had become pools of sensuality, to the daily 
life which, calling for no effort, had seen the passing 
of the spirit and the triumph of the gross. And 
what about his own people? Mankind was the same 
the world over. The gold which was bringing 
strength and life to the nation might very soon exude 
the same poisonous fumes, might very soon be laying 
its thrall upon a people to whom living had become 
an easier thing. However it might be for other, 
the Western nations, for his own he firmly believed 
that war alone, with its thousand privations, its call 
to the chivalry of his people, was the one great safe- 
guard. China! The days had gone by when the 
taking of China could inspire. It was to greater 
things they must look. Australia. New Zealand! 
Had any Western race the right to flaunt her Em- 
pire’s flag in Asiatic seas? And America! Once 
again he felt the slow rising of wrath as he recalled 
the insults of past years . . . the adventurous 
sons of his country treated like savages and negroes 


157 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

by that uncultured, strong-limbed race of coarse- 
fibered, unimaginative materialists. There was a 
call, indeed, to the soul of his country to avenge, to 
make safe, the homes and lives of her colonists. 
Across the seas he looked into the council chambers 
of the wise men of his race. He saw the men whose 
word would tell. He watched their faces turned to- 
wards him, waiting; heard the beginning of the con- 
flict of thoughts and minds — blind fidelity to the 
cause which they had espoused, or a rougher, more 
splendid, more selfish stroke for the greatness of 
Japan and Japan only. ‘‘ If we break our faith we 
lose our honour,” one murmured. “ There is no 
honour save the care of my people,” he heard one of 
his greatest countrymen reply. 

So he sat and thought, revolved in his mind argu- 
ments, morals, philosophy. It was the problem 
which had confronted the great Emperor, his own 
ancestor, who had lived for three months on the 
floor of the Temple, asking but one question of the 
Silent Powers : “ Through what gate shall I lead 

my nation to greatness ? ” 

The senses of the man who crouched in his 
curious attitude, with his eyes still piercing the 
heavens, were mobile and extraordinary things. No 
disturbing sounds had reached him from outside. 
His isolation seemed complete and impregnable. 
Yet, without turning his head, he was perfectly 
conscious of the slow opening of the door. His 
whole frame stiffened. He was conscious for one 
bitter second of a lapse from the careful guarding 
of his ways. That second passed, however, and left 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


158 

him prepared even for danger, his brain and muscles 
alike tense. He turned his head. The expression 
of slow surprise, which even parted his lips and nar- 
rowed his eyes, was only half assumed. 

‘‘ What do you wish? ” he asked. 

Lutchester did not for a moment reply. He had 
closed the door behind him carefully, and was looking 
around the room now with evident interest. Its 
bareness of furniture and decoration were note- 
worthy, but on the top of the ugly chest of drawers 
was a great bowl of roses, a queer little ivory figure 
set in an arched frame of copper — a figure almost 
sacerdotal, with its face turned towards the east — 
and a little shower of rose leaves, which could 
scarcely have fallen there by accident, at the foot of 
the pedestal. Lutchester inclined his head gravely, 
as he looked towards it, a gesture entirely rever- 
ential, almost an obeisance. Nikasti’s eyes were 
clouded with curiosity. He slipped down to the 
ground. 

I have travelled in your country,” Lutchester 
said gravely, as though in explanation. “ I have 
visited your temples. I may say that I have prayed 
there.” 

“ And now? ” Nikasti asked. 

“ I am for my country what you are for yours,” 
Lutchester proceeded. You see, I know when it 
is best to speak the truth. I am in New York 
because you are in New York, and if you leave on 
Saturday for Japan it may happen — of this I am 
not sure — but I say that it may happen that I shall 
accompany you.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


159 

“ I shall be much honoured,” Nikas ti murmured. 

‘‘ You came here,” Lutchester continued, “ to meet 
an emissary from Berlin. Your country, which 
could listen to no official word from any one of 
her official enemies, can yet, through you, learn what 
is in their minds. You have seen to-day Fischer 
and the Baron von Schwerin. Fischer has probably 
presented to you the letter which he has brought 
from Berlin. Von Schwerin has expounded further 
the proposition and the price which form part of his 
offer.” 

Nikasti’s face was imperturbable, but there was 
trouble in his eyes. 

You have found your way to much knowledge,” 
he muttered. 

“ I must find my way to more. I must know 
what Germany offers you. I must know what is at 
the back of your mind when you repeat this offer 
in Tokio.” 

“You can make, then, the unwilling speak?” 
Nikasti demanded. 

“ Even that is amongst the possibilities,” Lut- 
chester affirmed. “ Strange things have been done 
for the cause which such as you and I revere.” 

Nikasti showed his white teeth for a moment in 
a smile meant to be contemptuous. 

“It is a great riddle, this, which we toss from 
one to the other,” he observed. “ I am the simple 
valet of two gentlemen living in the hotel. You 
have listened, perhaps, to fairy tales, or dreamed 
them yourself, sir.” 

“ It is no fairy tale,” Lutchester rejoined, “ that 


i6o THE PAWNS COUNT 

you are Prince Nikasti, the third son of the great 
Marquis Ato, that you and I met more than once 
in London when you were living there some years 
ago; that you travelled through our country, and 
drew up so scathing an indictment of our domestic 
and industrial position that, but for their clumsy 
diplomacy, your country would probably have made 
overtures to Germany. Ever since those days I 
have wondered about you. I have wondered 
whether you are with your country in her friend- 
ship towards England.” 

‘‘ I have no friends but my country’s friends,” 
Nikasti declared, ‘‘ no enemies save her enemies. 
But to-day those things of which you have spoken do 
not concern me. I am the Japanese valet of Mr. 
Fischer and Mr. Van Teyl.” 

Lutchester, as though by accident, came a step 
further into the room. Nikasti’s eyes never left his 
face. Perhaps at that moment each knew the other’s 
purpose, though their tongues clung to the other 
things. 

“ Will you talk to me, Japan? ” Lutchester asked 
calmly. “ You have listened to Germany. I am 
England.” 

“ If you have anything to say,” Nikasti replied, 
Baron Yung is at Washington.” 

“ You and I know well,” Lutchester continued, 
‘‘ that ambassadors are but the figureheads in the 
world’s history. Speak to me of the things which 
concern our nations, Nikasti. Tell me of the letter 
you bear to the Emperor. You have nothing to lose. 
Sit down and talk to me, man to man. You have 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


i6x 

heard Germany. Hear England. Tell me of the 
promises made to you within the last hour, and I 
will show you how they can never be kept. Let us 
talk of your country’s future. You and I can tell 
one another much.” 

“ A valet knows nothing,” Nikasti murmured. 

Lut Chester came a step nearer. Nikasti, in re- 
treating, was now almost in a corner of the room. 

“ Listen,” Lutchester went on, for many years I 
have suspected that you are an enemy of my country. 
That is the reason why, when our Intelligence De- 
partment learnt of your mission, I chose to come 
myself to meet you. And now we meet, Nikasti, 
face to face, and all that you are willing to do for 
your country, I am willing to do for mine, and unless 
you sit down and talk this matter out with me as 
man to man, you will not leave New York.” 

The arm of the Japanese stole with the most per- 
fect naturalness inside his coat, and Lutchester knew 
then that the die was cast. The line of blue steel 
flashed out too late. The hand which gripped the 
strangely-shaped little knife was held as though in 
a vice, and Lutchester’s other arm was suddenly 
thrown around the neck of his assailant, his fingers 
pressed against his windpipe. 

‘‘ Drop the knife,” he ordered. 

It fell clattering on to the hard floor. Nikasti, 
however, twisted himself almost free, took a flying 
leap sideways, and seized his adversary’s leg. In 
another moment he came down upon the floor with a 
crash. Lutchester’s grip upon him, a little crueller 
now, was like a band of steel. 


i 62 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ There are many ways of playing this game. It 
is you who have chosen this one,” he said. ‘‘ It’s no 
use, Nikas ti. I know as much of your own science 
£LS you do. You’re my man now until I choose to 
let you free, and before I do that I am going to read 
the letter which you are taking to Japan.” 

Nikasti’s eyes were red with fury, but every move- 
ment w’as torture. Lutchester held him easily with 
one hand, felt over him with the other, drew the 
letter from his vest, and, shaking it free from its 
envelope, held it out and read it. When he had 
finished, he replaced it in the envelope and pushed it 
back into the other’s breast pocket. 

‘‘ Now,” he directed, “ you can get up.” 

Nikasti scrambled to his feet. There were livid 
marks under his eyes. For a moment he had lost 
all his vitality, he was like a beaten creature. 

You would never have done this,” he muttered, 
ten years ago. I grow old.” 

“ So that is the letter which you are taking to 
your Emperor!” Lutchester said. “You think it 
worth while! You can really see the German fleet 
steaming past the British Isles, out into the Atlantic, 
and bombarding New York!” 

Nikasti made no reply. Lutchester looked at him 
for a moment thoughtfully. There was a light once 
more in the beaten man’s eyes — a queer, secretive 
gleam. Lutchester stooped down and picked up 
the knife from the floor. 

“Nikasti,” he enjoined, “listen to me, for your 
country’s sake. The promise contained in that 
letter is barely worth the paper it is written on, so 


THE PAWNS COUNT 163 

long as the British fleet remains what it is. But, 
apart from that, I tell you here, of my own profound 
conviction — and I will prove it to you before many 
days are past — Germany does not intend to keep 
this promise.” 

Nikas ti made no reply. His face was ex- 
pressionless. 

“ Germany has but one idea,” Lutchester con- 
tinued. “ She means to play you and America off 
against one another. I have found out her offer to 
you. All I can say is, if you take it seriously you 
are not the man I think you. Now I will tell you 
what I am going to do. I am going to find out her 
offer to America. I will bring that to you, and you 
shall see the two side by side. Then you shall know 
how much you can rely upon a country whose diplo- 
macy is bred and bom of lies, who cheats at every 
move of the game, who makes you a deliberate offer 
here which she never has the least intention of keep- 
ing. Have you anything to say to me, Ni- 
kasti.? ” 

Nikasti raised his eyes for one moment. 

“ I have nothing to say,” he replied. “ I am the 
valet of Mr. Fischer and Mr. Van Teyl. These 
things are not of my concern.” 

Lutchester shrugged his shoulders. 

“ Whatever you may be,” he concluded, ‘‘ and 
however much you may resent all that has happened, 
I know that you will wait. I might go direct to 
Washington, but I prefer to come to you, if it re- 
mains possible. Before you leave this country we 
will meet again, and, when you have heard me, you 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


164 

will tear that letter which you are treasuring next 
your heart into small pieces.” 

Lutchester turned and left the room, closing the 
door behind him. Nikas ti crouched in his place 
without movement. The ache in his heart seemed 
to be shining out of his face. He turned slowly 
towards the little figure of black ivory, his head 
drooped lower — he was filled with a great shame. 


CHAPTER XX 


Fischer raised his eyebrows in mild surprise to 
find Nikas ti waiting for him in the sitting room that 
evening, with his overcoat and evening hat. He 
closed the door of the bedroom from which he had 
issued carefully behind him. 

‘‘ You don’t need to go on with this business now 
that we have had our little talk,” he remonstrated. 

‘‘ I cannot leave until the twentieth,” Nikasti re- 
plied. “ I think it best that I remain here. Your 
cocktail, sir.” 

Fischer accepted the glass with a good-humoured 
little laugh. 

‘‘ Well,” he said, “ I suppose you know what you 
want to do, but it seems to me unnecessary. Say, 
is anything wrong with you.^ You seem shaken, 
somehow.” 

“ I am quite well,” Nikasti declared gravely. I 
am very well indeed.” 

Fischer stared at him searchingly from behind his 
spectacles. 

‘‘ You don’t look it,” he observed. “ If you’ll take 
my advice, you’ll get away from here and rest some- 
where quietly for a few days. Why don’t you try 
one of the summer hotels on Long Island.? ” 

Nikasti shook his head. 


i66 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ Until I sail,” he decided, “ I stay here. It is 
better so.” v 

“ You know best, of course,” Fischer replied. 
“Where’s Mr. Van Teyl? ” 

“ He has gone out with his sister, sir — the young 
lady in the next suite,” Nikas ti announced. 

Fischer sighed for a moment. Then he finished 
his cocktail, drew on his gloves, and turned towards 
the door. 

“ Well, good night,” he said. “ Perhaps you are 
wise to stay here. Remember always what it is that 
you carry about with you.” 

“ I shall remember,” Nikasti promised. 

Fischer entered his automobile and drove to a 
fashionable restaurant in the neighbourhood of Fifth 
Avenue. Arrived here, he made his way to a room 
on the first floor, into which he was ushered by one 
of the head waiters. Von Schwerin was already 
there, talking with a little company of men. 

“ Ah, our friend Fischer ! ” the latter exclaimed. 

That makes our number complete.” 

A waiter handed around cocktails. Fischer 
smiled as he raised his glass to his lips. 

“ It is something, at least,” he confided, “ to be 
back in a country where one can speak freely. I 
raise my arm. Von Schwerin and gentlemen — ‘ To 
the Fatherland!’” 

They all drank fervently and with a little guttural 
murmur. Von Schwerin set down his empty glass. 
He was looking a little glum. 

“ In many ways, my dear Fischer,” he said, “ one 
sympathises with that speech of yours ; but the truth 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


167 

is best, and it is to talk truths that we have met this 
evening. We are gaining no ground here. I am 
not sure that we are not losing.” 

There was a moment’s disturbed and agitated 
silence. 

‘‘ It is bad to hear,” one little man acknowledged, 
with a sigh, “ but who can doubt it ? There is a 
fever which has caught hold of this country, which 
blazes in the towns and smoulders in the country 
places, and that is the fever of money-making. Men 
are blinded with the passion of it. They tell me that 
even Otto Schmidt in Milwaukee has turned his 
great factories into ammunition works.” 

Von Schwerin’s eyes flashed. 

‘‘ Let him be careful,” he muttered, “ that one 
morning those are not blackened walls upon which 
he looks! We go to dinner now, gentlemen, and, 
until we are alone afterwards, not one word concern- 
ing the great things.” 

The partition doors leading into the dining room 
were thrown back and the little company of men 
sat down to dine. There were fourteen of them, 
and their names were known throughout the world. 
There was a steel millionaire, half-a-dozen Wall 
Street magnates, a clothing manufacturer, whose 
house in Fifth Avenue was reputed to have cost two 
millions. There was not one of them who was not 
a patriot — to Germany. They ate and drank 
through the courses of an abnormally long dinner 
with the businesslike thoroughness of their race. 
When at last the coffee and liqueurs had been served, 
the waiters by prearrangement disappeared, and 


i68 THE PAWNS COUNT 

with a little flourish Von Schwerin locked the door. 
Once more he raised his glass. 

“ To the Kaiser and the Fatherland ! ” he cried in 
a voice thick with emotion. 

For a moment a little flash of something almost 
like spirituality lightened the gathering. They were 
at least men with a purpose, and an unselfish pur- 
pose. 

“ Oscar Fischer,” Von Schwerin said, my 
friends, all of you, you know how strenuous my 
labours have been during the last year. You know 
that three times the English Ambassador has almost 
demanded m}^ recall, and three times the matter has 
hung in the balance. I have watched events in 
Washington, not through my own but through a 
thousand eyes. My fingers are on the pulse of the 
country, so what I say to you needs nothing in the 
way of substantiation. The truth is best. Not- 
withstanding all my efforts, and the efforts of every 
one of you, the great momentum of public feeling, 
from California to Massachusetts, has turned slowly 
towards the cause of our enemies. Washington is 
hopelessly against us. The huge supplies which 
leave these shores day by day for England and 
France will continue. Fresh plants are being laid 
down for the manufacture of weapons and ammuni- 
tion to be used against our country. The hand of 
diplomacy is powerless. We can struggle no longer. 
Even those who favour our cause are drunk with 
the joy of the golden harvest they are reaping. 
This country has spoken once and for all, and its 
voice is for our most hated enemy.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 169 

There were a variety of guttural and sympathetic 
ejaculations. A dozen earnest faces turned towards 
Von Schwerin. 

‘‘ Diplomacy,” Von Schwerin continued, has 
failed. We come to the next step. There have been 
isolated acts of self-sacrifice, splendid in themselves 
but systemless. Only the day before yesterday a 
great factory at Detroit was burned to the ground, 
and I can assure you, gentlemen, I who know, that 
a thousand bales of cloth, destined for France, lie in 
a charred heap amongst the ruins. That fire was 
no accident.” 

There was a brief silence. Fischer nodded ap- 
provingly. Von Schwerin filled his glass. 

‘‘ This,” he went on, “ was the individual act of a 
brave and faithful patriot. The time has come for 
us, too, to remember that we are at war. I have 
striven for you with the weapons of diplomacy and 
I have failed. I ask you now to face the situation 
with me — to make use of the only means left to us.” 

No one hesitated. Possibly ruin stared them in 
the face, but not one flinched. Their heads drew 
closer together. They discussed the ways and 
means of the new campaign. 

“We must add largely to our numbers,” Von 
Schwerin said, “ and we had better have a fund. So 
far as regards money, I take it for granted — ” 

There was a little chorus of fierce whispers. Five 
million dollars were subscribed by men who were will- 
ing, if necessary, to find fifty. 

“ It is enough,” their leader assured them. 
“ Much of our labours will be amongst those to whom 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


170 

money is no object. Only remember, all of you, 
this. We shall be a society without a written word, 
with no roll of membership, without documents or 
institution, for complicity in the things which follow 
will mean ruin. You are willing to face that.'^ ” 

Again that strange, passionate instinct of unanim- 
ity prevailed. To all appearance it was a gather- 
ing of commonplace, commercialised and burgeois, 
easy-living men, but the touch of the spirit was 
there. Fischer leaned a little forward. 

In two months’ time,” he said, “ every factory 
in America which is earning its blood money shall 
be in danger. There will be a reign of terror. 
Each State will operate independently and secretly.” 

Our friend Fischer,” Von Schwerin told them, 
“ has promised to stay over here for the present to 
organise this undertaking. I, alas! am bound to 
remain always a little aloof, but the time may come, 
and very soon, too, when I shall be a free lance. 
On that day I shall throw my lot in with yours, to 
the last drop of my blood and the last hour of my 
liberty. Until then, trust Oscar Fischer. He has 
done great deeds already. He will show you the 
way to more.” 

Fischer took off his spectacles and wiped them. 

“ Our first proceeding,” he said, “ sounds para- 
doxical. It must be that we cease to exist. There 
can be no longer any meetings amongst us who 
stand in this country for Germany. Gatherings 
of this sort are finished. We meet, one or two of 
us, perhaps, by accident, in the clubs and in the 
streets, in our houses and perhaps in the restau- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


171 

rants, but the bond which unites us, and which no 
human power could ever sever because it is of the 
spirit, that bond from to-night is intangible. Wait, 
all of you, for a message. The task given to each 
shall not be too great.” 

Mr. Max H. Bookam, a little black-bearded man 
who had started life tailoring in a garret, and was 
now a multi-millionaire, raised his glass. 

“No task shall seem too great,” he muttered. 
“No risk shall make us afraid. Even the exile shall 
take up his burden.” 


/ 


CHAPTER XXI 


Mr. Fischer’s business later on that night led him 
into unsavoury parts. He left his car at the corner 
of Fourteenth Street, and, after a moment’s reflec- 
tion, as though to refresh his memory, he made his 
way slowly eastwards. He wore an unusually 
shabby overcoat, and a felt hat drawn over his eyes, 
both of which garments he had concealed in the auto- 
mobile. Even then, however, his appearance n\ade 
him an object of some comment. A little gang of 
toughs first jostled him and then turned and followed 
in his footsteps. A man came out of the shadows, 
and they broke away with an oath. 

“ That cop’ll get his head broke some day,” 
Fischer heard one of them mutter, with appropriate 
adjectives. 

There were others who looked curiously at him. 
One man’s hand he felt running over his pockets 
as he pushed past him. A couple of women came 
screaming down the street and seized him by the 
arms. He shook himself free, and listened without 
a word to their torrent of abuse. The lights here 
seemed to burn more dimly. Even the flares from 
the drinking dens seemed secretive, and the shadowy 
places impenetrable. It was before a saloon that at 
last he paused, listened for a moment to the sound 
of a cracked piano inside, and entered. The place 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


173 

was packed, and, fortunately for him, a scrap of 
some interest between two villainous-looking Italians 
in a distant corner was occupying the attention of 
many of the patrons. A man with white, staring 
face was banging at a crazy piano without a move- 
ment of his body, his whole energies apparently di- 
rected towards drowning the tumult of oaths and 
hideous execrations which came from the two com- 
batants. A drunken Irishman, rolling about on the 
floor, kicked at him savagely as he passed. An un- 
dersized little creature, with the face of an old man 
but the figure of a boy, marked him from a distant 
corner and crept stealthily towards his side. 
Fischer reached the counter at last and stood there 
for a moment, waiting. Two huge, rough-looking 
negroes, in soiled linen clothes, were dispensing the 
drinks. As one of them passed, Fischer struck the 
counter with his forefinger, six or seven times, ob- 
serving a particular rhythm. The negro started, 
turned his heavily-lidded, repulsive eyes upon 
Fischer, and nodded slightly. He handed out 
the drink he had in his hand, and leaned over the 
counter. 

“ Want the boss? ” he demanded. 

Fischer assented. The negro lifted the flap of the 
counter and opened a trapdoor, leading apparently 
into a cellar beneath. 

“ Step right down,” he muttered. “ Don’t let the 
boys catch on. Get out of that, Tim,” he added 
thickly to the dwarflike figure, whose slender fingers 
were suddenly nearing Fischer’s neck. 

The creature seemed to melt away. Fischer dived 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


174 

and descended a dozen steps or so into another bare 
looking apartment, the door of which was half open. 
There were three men seated at the solitary deal 
table, which was almost the only article of furniture 
to be seen. One, sombrely dressed in legal black, 
with a pale face and fiercely inquiring eyes, half rose 
to his feet as the newcomer entered. Another’s hand 
went to his hip pocket. The man who was sitting 
between the two, however — a great red-headed 
Irishman — rose to his feet and pushed them back 
to their places. 

“ There’s no cause for alarm, now, boys,” he de- 
clared. “ This is a friend of mine. I won’t make 
you acquainted, because we’re all better friends 
strangers down in these parts. Hop it off, you two. 
Sit down here, Mr. Stranger.” 

The two men stole away. The Irishman poured 
out a glassful of neat whisky and passed it to his 
visitor. 

“ Clients of mine,” he explained. “ Tim Crooks 
is in politics. Got your message, boss. What’s the 
figure ” 

“ Two thousand ! ” 

The Irishman whistled and looked thoughtfully 
down at the table.” 

Isn’t it enough ? ” Fischer asked. 

Enough ” was the hoarse reply. “ Why, there 
isn’t one of my toughs that wouldn’t go rat-hunting 
for a quarter of that. If it’s any one in these parts, 
twelve hours is all I want.” 

“ It isn’t ! ” 

The Irishman’s face fell. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


175 

‘‘Some swell, I suppose? Fifth Avenue way and 
the swagger parts, eh? ” 

Fischer assented silently. His host poured him- 
self out some whisky and drank it as though it were 
water. 

“You see, boss,” he pointed out, “it’s no use 
sending greenhorns out on a job like that, because 
they only squeak if they’re pinched, and pinched 
they’re sure to be ; and all my regulars are what we 
call in sanctuary.” 

“ You mean they are hiding already? ” 

“ That’s some truth,” was the grim admission. 
“ The cops ain’t going to trouble to come after ’em, 
so long as they keep here, but they’d nab ’em fast 
enough if they showed their noses beyond the end 
of Fourteenth. Still, I’d like to oblige you, guv’nor. 
I don’t know who you are, and don’t want, but my 
boys speak fine of you. You know Ed Swindles? ” 

“ Not by name,” Fischer confessed. 

“ He did that little j ob up at Detroit,” the Irish- 
man went on, dropping his voice a little. “ I tell 
you he’s a genius at handling a bomb, is Ed. Blew 
that old factory into brick-ends, he did. He’s in 
the saloon upstairs — got his girl with him. They’ve 
been doing a round of the dancing saloons.” 

“That’s all right, but what about this job?” 
Fischer inquired, a little impatiently. 

The Irishman glanced behind him. Then he 
dropped his voice a little. 

“ Look here, guv’nor,” he said, “ I’ve some idea, if 
it pans out. You’ve heard of the Heste case?” 

“You mean the girl who was murdered?” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


176 

“ Yes ! Well, the chap that did it is within a few 
feet of where we’re sitting.” 

Fischer took off his spectacles and rubbed them. 
In the dim light his face looked more grim and 
powerful than ever. 

“ Isn’t that a little dangerous ? ” he observed. 
“ The police mean having him.” 

“ You’re dead right,” the Irishman replied. 
“ They’ve got to have him, and he knows it. They’d 
keep their hands off any one in these parts if they 
could, but this bloke’s different. He done it too 
thick, and he’s got the public squealing. Now if 
we could get him out for long enough, he’s the man 
for your job. Come right along, boss.” 

He rose heavily to his feet, crossed the room, and 
threw open the door of what W'as little more than a 
cupboard at the further end. The place was in 
darkness, but a human form sprang suddenly up- 
right. His white face and glaring eyes were the 
only visible objects in a shroud of darkness. 

“ That’s all right, kid,” the Irishman said sooth- 
ingly. “No cops yet. This is a gentleman on busi- 
ness. Wait till I fix a light.” 

He stepped back, and brought a candle from the 
table at which he had been seated. Fischer helped 
him light it, and by degrees the interior of the little 
apartment was illuminated. Its contents were al- 
most negligible — there was simply a foul piece of 
rug in the corner, and a broken chair. With his 
back to the wall crouched a slim, apparently young 
man, with a perfectly bloodless face and black eyes 
under which were blue lines. His clothes were torn 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


177 

and covered with dust, as though he had dragged 
himself about the floor, and one of his hands was 
bleeding. 

“ The gentleman’s on business, Jake,” his host re- 
peated. 

“ Give me some whisky,” the young man mumbled. 

The Irishman shaded his eyes. 

“ Holy Moses ! why, you’ve finished that bottle ! ” 
he exclaimed. 

“ It’s like water,” the fugitive replied in a hot 
whisper. ‘‘ I drink and I feel nothing ; I taste 
nothing — I forget nothing! Give me something 
stronger.” 

He tossed off without hesitation the tumbler half 
full of whisky which his guardian fetched him. Then 
he came out. 

“ I’m sick of this,” he declared. I’ll sit at your 
table. It’s no use talking to me of jobs,” he went 
on. “ I couldn’t get out of here. I made for the 
docks, but they headed me off. They know where 
I am. They’ll have me sooner or later.” 

“ Yes, they’ll have you right enough,” the Irish- 
man assented ; ‘‘ but if there was any chance in the 
world, this gent could give it to you. He’s got a 
job he wants done up amongst the swells in Fifth 
Avenue, and there’s money enough in it to buy Anna 
herself, if you want her. Anna’s our real toff down 
here,” he explained, turning to Fischer, “ and all 
the boys are crazy about her.” 

Jake shook his head, unimpressed. He fixed his 
eyes upon Fischer, moistened his lips a little, and 
spoke in a sort of croaky whisper. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


178 

“ Money’s no use to me,” he said, “ nor women 
either — I’m through with them. You know what 
I done? I killed my girl. That’s what I’m going 
to the chair for. But if I could get out of this, I’d 
do your job. I’m kind of hating people. I can’t 
get my girl’s face out of my mind. Perhaps if I 
did your job I’d have another one to think about.” 

“Pleasant company, ain’t he?” the Irishman 
grunted. “ He’s the real goods.” 

Fischer stared at the young man as though fas- 
cinated. He seemed beyond and outside human com- 
prehension. Their host was sitting with his hands 
in his pockets and his feet on another chair. The 
braces hung from his shoulders upon the floor, his 
colla*rless shirt had fallen a little open. His face, 
with its little tuft of red side whiskers and unshaven 
chin, was reminiscent of the forests. 

“ If you want this job fixed, Mr. Stranger,” he 
said, “ I don’t know as J ake here couldn’t take it 
on. It’d have to be done like this. Jake’s a real 
toney chauffeur — drive anything. If you had your 
automobile at a spot I could tell you of one evening, 
just at dusk, I might get him that far, in a set of 
chauffeur’s clothes. Once on the box of your auto, 
he’d be out of this and could give ’em the slip for a 
bit. It’s the only way I can think of, to get him 
near the game.” 

“ The arrangement would suit me,” Fischer ad- 
mitted. 

Jake suddenly showed a gleaming set of unex- 
pectedly white teeth. His eyes stared more than 
ever. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 179 

I’m game ! I’m on to this,” he cried fiercely. 
“ You can have all there is coming to me, Sullivan, 
if I get nabbed, but I’m going to take my risk. I 
hate this hole ! It’s a rat’s den.” 

“ Then get you back to your cupboard, Jake,” the 
Irishman enjoined. “ I’ve got to talk business to 
the gent.” 

The young man rose to his feet. He tqok the 
bottle of whisky under his arm. His face was still 
ashen, but his tone was steady. He gripped Fischer 
by the arm. 

I will do your job,” he promised. “ I will do it 
thoroughly.” 

He slouched across the floor, entered his cupboard, 
and disappeared. Fischer was suddenly aware of 
the moisture upon his forehead. There was some- 
thing animallike, absolutely inhuman, about this 
creature with whom he had made his murderous bar- 
gain. 

“ I have no money here, of course,” he reminded 
his companion. 

Don’t know as I blame you, guv’nor,” the other 
observed with a grin. “ I saw my toughs lay out a 
guy only the other day for flashing a smaller wad 
than you’d carry. You know the rules, and I guess 
I’ll ring up the bank to-morrow morning at eleven 
o’clock. Does that go ? ” 

‘‘ You’ll And the deposit there,” Fischer promised. 
“ You’d better let me know when he’s ready to take 
the job on.” 

The Irishman walked to the foot of the steps with 
his visitor. 


i8o THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ Give Joe the double knock on the trapdoor,” he 
directed, “ and get out of the saloon as quick as 
you can. There’s a Dago about there keeps our 
hands full. Got anything with you ? ” 

Fischer nodded. His hand stole out of his over- 
coat pocket. 

“ Better give them one if they look like trouble,” 
his host advised. “ They’ve plenty of spunk, but I 
can tell you they make tracks for their holes if they 
hear one of those things bark.” 

“ They shall hear it fast enough, if they try to 
hustle me,” Fischer observed grimly. 

“ You’ve some pluck,” the Irishman declared, as 
he watched his departing guest ascend the steps. 
“ Sure, this is no place for cowards, anyway. And 
good night and good luck to you! Jake will do 
your job slick, if any one could.” 

Fischer beat his little tattoo upon the trapdoor, 
crawled through it and underneath the flap in the 
counter, out into the saloon. He paused for a 
moment to look around, on his way to the door. 
The fight was apparently over, for every one was 
standing at the counter, drinking with a swarthy- 
faced man whose cheeks were stained with blood. 
From a distant corner came the sound of groans. 
The air seemed heavier than ever with foul tobacco 
smoke. The man at the piano still thrashed out his 
unmelodious chords. Some women in a corner were 
pretending to dance. One or two of them looked 
curiously at Fischer, but he passed out, unchal- 
lenged. Even the air of the slum outside seemed 
pure and fresh after the heated den he had left. He 


THE PAWNS COUNT i8i 

reached the corner of the street in safety and stepped 
quickly into his car. He threw both windows wide 
open and murmured an order to the chauffeur. 
Then he leaned back and closed his eyes for a mo- 
ment. He was a man not overburdened with im- 
agination, but it seemed to him just then that he 
would never be able altogether to forget the face of 
that ghastly, dehumanised creature, crouching like 
some terrified wild animal in his fetid refuge. 


CHAPTER XXII 


Mrs. Theodore Hastings was forty-eight years old, 
which her friends said was the reason why her man- 
sion on Fifth Avenue was furnished and lit with the 
delicate sombreness of an old Italian palace. There 
was about it none of the garishness, the almost re- 
splendent brilliancy associated with the abodes of 
many of our neighbours. Although her masseuse 
confidently assured her that she looked twenty-eight, 
Mrs. Hastings preferred not to put the matter to 
the test. She received her carefully selected dinner 
guests in a great library with cedarwood walls, fur- 
nished with almost Victorian sobriety, and illumi- 
nated by myriads of hidden lights. Pamela, being a 
relative, received the special consideration of an af- 
fectionately bestowed embrace. 

“ Pamela, my child, wasn’t it splendid I heard that 
you were in New York ! ” she exclaimed. “ Quite by 
accident, too. I think you treat your relatives 
shamefully.” 

Her niece laughed. 

“ Well, anyhow, you’re the first of them I’ve seen 
at all, and directly Jim told me he was coming to 
you, I made him ring up in case you had room for 
me.” 

“ Jimmy was a dear,” Mrs. Hastings declared, 
“ and, of course, there couldn’t be a time when there 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


183 

wouldn’t be room for you. Even now, at the last 
moment, though, I haven’t quite made up my mind 
where to put you. Choose, dear. Will you have a 
Western bishop or a rather dull Englishman? ” 

What is the name of the Englishman? ” Pamela 
asked, with sudden intuition. 

“ Lutchester, dear. Quite a nice name, but I know 
nothing about him. He brought letters to your 
uncle. Rather a queer time for Englishmen to be 
travelling about, we thought, but still, there he is. 
Seems to have found some people he knows — and I 
declare he is coming towards you ! ” 

‘‘ I met him in London,” Pamela whispered, “ and 
I never could get on with bishops.” 

The dinner table was large, and arranged with 
that wonderful simplicity which Mrs. Hastings had 
adopted as the keynote of her New York parties. 
She had taken, in fact, simplicity under her wing 
and made a new thing of it. There were more 
flowers than silver, and cut glass than heavy plate. 
There seemed to be an almost ostentatious desire to 
conceal the fact that Mr. Hastings had robbed the 
American public of a good many million dollars. 

“ Of course,” Pamela declared, as they took their 
places, and she nodded a greeting to some friends 
around the table, “ fate is throwing us together in 
the most unaccountable manner.” 

‘‘ I accept its vagaries with resignation,” Lut- 
chester replied. Besides, it is quite time we met 
again. You promised to show me New York, and I 
haven’t se^ you for days.” 

‘‘ I don’t even remember the promise,” Pamela 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


184 

laughed, “ but in any case I have changed my mind. 
I am not sure that you are the nice, simple-minded 
person you profess to be. I begin to have doubts 
about you.” 

“ Interest grows with mystery,” Lutchester re- 
marked complacently. “ Let us hope that I am pro- 
moted in your mind.” 

“ Well, I am not at all sure. Of course, I am not 
an Englishman, so it is of no particular interest to 
me, but if you really came over here on important 
affairs, I am not sure that I approve of your playing 
golf the day after your arrival.” 

“ That, perhaps, was thoughtless,” he admitted, 
‘‘ but one gets so short of exercise on board ship.” 

“ Of course,” Pamela observed tentatively, “ I’d 
forgive you even now if you’d only be a little more 
frank with me.” 

“ I am prepared to be candour itself,” he assured 
her. 

“ Tell me,” she begged, ‘‘ the whole extent of your 
mission in America.^ ” 

He glanced around. 

« If 

we were alone,” he replied, I might court in- 
discretion so far as to tell you.” 

“ Then we will leave the answer to that question 
until after dinner,” she said. 

She talked to her left-hand neighbour for a few 
moments, and Lutchester followed suit. They 
turned to one another again, however, at the first 
opportunity. 

“ I have conceived,” she told him, a great admira- 
tion for Mr. Oscar Fischer.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 185 

A very able man,” Lutchester agreed. 

‘‘ He is not only that,” Pamela continued, “ but he 
is a man with large principles and great ideas.” 

“ Principles ! ” Lutchester murmured. 

‘‘ Of course, you don’t like him,” Pamela went on, 
“ and I don’t wonder at it. He is thoroughly Ger- 
man, isn’t he? ” 

“Almost prejudiced, I’m afraid,” Lutchester as- 
sented. 

“ Don’t be silly,” Pamela protested. “ Why, he^'s 
German by birth, and although you English people 
are much too pig-headed to see any good in an 
enemy, I think you must admit that the way they 
all hang together — Germans, I mean, all over the 
world — is perfectly wonderful.” 

“ There have been a few remarks of the same 
sort,” Lutchester reminded her, “ about the inhabi- 
tants of the British Empire — Canadians, Austra- 
lians, New Zealanders, for instance.” 

“ As a matter of fact,” Pamela admitted gener- 
ously, “ I consider that your Colonials understand 
the word patriotism better than the ordinary Eng- 
lishman. With them, as with the Germans, it is al- 
most a passionate impulse. Your hearts may be in 
the right places, but you always give one the impres- 
sion of finding the whole thing rather a bore.” 

“ Well, so it is,” Lutchester insisted. “ Who 
wants to give up a very agreeable profession and 
enter upon a career of bloodshed, abandon all one’s 
habits, and lose most of one’s friends? No, we are 
honest about that, at any rate! Germany may be 
enjoying this war. We aren’t.” 


i86 THE PAWNS COUNT 

“What was your profession?” Pamela inquired. 

“ Diplomacy,” Lutchester confided. “ I intended 
to become an ambassador.” 

“ Do you think you have the requisite gifts? ” 

“ What are they? ” 

“ Secrecy, subtlety, caution, and highly-developed 
intelligence,” she replied. “How’s that?” 

“ All those gifts,” he assured her, “ I possess.” 

She fanned herself for a moment and looked at 
him. 

“ We are not a modest race ourselves,” she said, 
“ but I think you can give us a lead. By the bye, 
were you playing golf with Senator Hamblin by ac- 
cident the other afternoon?” 

“You mean the old Johnny down at Baltusrol? ” 
he asked coolly. “ I picked him up wandering about 
by the professionals’ shed.” 

“ Did you talk politics with him ? ” 

“ We gassed a bit about the war,” Lutchester ad- 
mitted cheerfully. 

Pamela laughed. She leaned a little forward. 
The buzz of conversation now was insistent all around 
them. 

“ Of you two,” she whispered, “ I prefer Fischer.” 

Lutchester considered the matter for some time. 

“ Well, there’s no accounting for tastes,” he said 
presently. “I shouldn’t have thought him exactly 
your type.” 

“ He may not be,” Pamela confessed, “ but at 
least he has the courage to speak what is in his 
mind.” 

Lutchester smiled. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


187 

‘‘ So Fischer has taken you into his confidence, 
has he?” he murmured. ‘‘Well, now, that seems 
queer to me. I should have thought your interests 
would have lain the other way.” 

“ As an individual? ” 

“ As an American.” 

“ I am not wholly convinced of that.” 

“ Come,” he protested, “ what is the use of a 
friend from whom you are separated by an un- 
negotiable space? ” 

“ What unnegotiable space ? ” 

“ The Atlantic.” 

“And why is the Atlantic unnegotiable?” 

“ Because of a little affair called the British fleet,” 
Lrutchester pointed out. . 

“ There is also,” she reminded him drily, “ a Ger- 
man fleet, and they haven’t met yet.” 

“ Ah ! I had almost forgotten there was such a 
thing,” he murmured. “Where do they keep it?” 

“ You know. You aren’t nearly so stupid as you 
pretend to be,” she said, a little impatiently. “ I 
should like you so much better if you would be frank 
with me.” 

“ What about those qualifications for my ambas- 
sadorial career ? ” he reminded her — “ Secrecy, 
subtlety, caution.” 

“ The master of these,” she whispered, rising to 
her feet in response to her hostess’s signal, “ knows 
when to abandon them — ” 

Lutchester changed his place to a vacant chair by 
James Van Teyl’s side. 

“ I was going to ask you, Mr. Van Teyl,” he in- 


i88 THE PAWNS COUNT 

quired, “ whether your Japanese servant was alto- 
gether a success? I think I shall have to get a tem- 
portiry servant while I am over here.” 

“ Nikasti was entirely Fischer’s affair,” Van Teyl 
replied, “ and I can’t say much about him as I have 
given up my share of the apartments at the Plaza. 
The fellow’s all right, I dare say, but w^e hadn’t the 
slightest use for a valet. The man on the floor’s 
good enough for any one.” 

‘‘ By the bye,” Lutchester inquired, ‘‘ is Fischer 
still in New York? ” 

“ No, he’s in Washington,” Van Teyl replied. I 
believe he’s expected back to-morrow. . . . Say, can 
I ask you a question ? ” 

Lutchester almost imperceptibly drew his chair a 
little closer. 

‘‘ Of course you can,” he assented. 

“ What I want to know,” Van Teyl continued con- 
fidentially, “ is how you get that long run on your 
cleek shots ? I saw you play the sixteenth hole, and 
it looked to me as though the ball were never going 
to stop.” 

Lutchester smiled. 

“ I have made a special study of that shot,” he 
confided. “ Yes, I can tell you how it’s done, but 
it needs a lot of practice. It’s done in turning over 
the wrists sharply just at the moment of impact. 
You get everything there is to be got into the stroke 
that way, and you keep the ball low, too.” 

‘‘ Gee, I must try that 1 ” Van Teyl observed, mak- 
ing spasmodic movements with his wrists. ‘‘ When 
could we have a day down at Baltusrol? ” 


/ 


/. 

THE PAWNS COUNT 189 

‘‘ It will have to be next week, I’m afraid, if you 
don’t mind,” Lutchester replied. “ I’ve a good 
many appointments in New York, and I may have to 
go to Washington myself. By the bye, I thought 
our host lived there.” 

‘‘ So he does,” Van Teyl assented. “ Nowadays, 
though, it seems to have become the fashion for 
politicians to own a house up in New York and do 
some entertaining here. They’re after the financial 
interest, I suppose.” 

“Is your uncle a keen politician?” 

“ Keen as mustard,” Van Teyl answered. “ So’s 
my aunt. She’d give her soul to have the old man 
nominated for the Presidency.” 

“ Any chance of it ? ” 

“ Not an earthly! He’ll come a mucker, though, 
some day, trying. He’d take any outside chance. 
For a clever man he’s the vainest thing I know.” 

Lutchester smiled enigmatically as he followed the 
example of the others and rose to his feet. 

“ Even in America, then,” he observed, “ your 
great men have their weaknesses.” 


CHAPTER XXIII 


Fischer, exactly one week after his nocturnal visit 
to Fourteenth Street, hurried out of the train at the 
Pennsylvania Station, almost tore the newspapers 
from the news stand, glanced through them one by 
one and threw them back. The attendant, open- 
mouthed, ventured upon a mild protest. Fischer 
threw him a dollar bill, caught up his handbag, and 
made for the entrance. He was the first passenger 
from the Washington Limited to reach the street and 
spring into a taxi. 

‘‘ The Plaza Hotel,” he ordered. Get along.” 

They arrived at the Plaza in less than ten minutes. 
Mr. Fischer tipped the driver lavishly, suffered the 
hall porter to take his bag, returned his greeting 
mechanically, and walked with swift haste to the tape 
machine. He held up the strips with shaking fingers, 
dropped them again, hurried to the lift, and entered 
his rooms. Nikasti was in the sitting-room, arrang- 
ing some flowers. Fischer did not even stop to reply 
to his reverential greeting. 

“ Where’s Mr. Van Teyl.^ ” he demanded. 

‘‘ Mr. Van Teyl has gone away, sir,” was the calm 
reply. ‘^He left here the day before yesterday. 
There is a letter.” 

Fischer took no notice. He was already gripping 
the telephone receiver. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


191 


‘‘ 982, Wall,” he said — “ an urgent call.” 

He stood waiting, his face an epitome of breath- 
less suspense. Soon a voice answered him. 

‘‘ That the office of Neville, Brooks and Van 
Teyl?” he demanded. “Yes! Put me through to 
Mr. Van Teyl. Urgent ! ” 

Another few seconds of waiting, then once more 
he bent over the instrument. 

“That you, Van Teyl? . . . Yes, Fischer speak- 
ing. Oh, never mind about that! Listen. What 
price are Anglo-French? . . . No, say about what.^ 
. . . Ninety-five? . . . Sell me a hundred thousand. 
. . . What’s that? . . . What? ... Of course it’s 
a big deal ! Never mind that. I’m good enough, 
aren’t I? There’ll be no rise that’ll wipe out half a 
million dollars. I’ve got that lying in cash at Gug- 
genheimer’s. If you need the money, I’ll bring it you 
in half an hour. Get out into the market and sell. 
Damn you, what’s it matter about news! Right! 
Sorry, Jim. See you later.” 

Fischer put down the telephone and wiped his 
forehead. Notwithstanding the fatigue in his face, 
there was a glint of triumph there. He laid his 
hand upon Nikas ti’s shoulder. 

“ My friend,” he said, “ there’s big proof coming 
of what I said to you the other day. You’ll find 
that letter you carry will mean a different thing 
now. There’s news in the air.” 

“ There has been a great battle, perhaps? ” Nika- 
sti asked slowly. 

“ All that is to be known you will hear before 
evening,” Fischer replied. “ Tell some one to send 


192 THE PAWNS COUNT 

me some coifee. I have come through from Wash- 
ington. I am tired.” 

He sank a little abruptly into an easy-chair, took 
off his spectacles, and leaned his head back upon 
the cushions. In the sunlight his face was almost 
ghastly. A* queer sense of weakness had suddenly 
assailed him. His mind flitted back through a vista 
of sleepless nights, of strenuous days, of passions 
held in leash, excitement ground down. 

“ I am tired,” he said. Telephone down to the 
office, Nikasti, for a doctor.” 

Nikasti obeyed, and his summons was promptly 
answered. The doctor who arrived was pleasantly 
but ominously grave. In the middle of his exami- 
nation the telephone rang. Fischer, without cere- 
mony, moved to the receiver. It was Van Teyl 
speaking. 

“ I’ve sold your hundred thousand Anglo-French,” 
he announced. “ It’s done the whole market in, 
though — knocked the bottom out of it. They’ve 
fallen a point and a half. Shall I begin to buy back 
for you? You’ll make a bit.” 

“Not a share,” Fischer answered fiercely. 
“ Wait!” 

“ Have you any news you’re keeping up your 
sleeve? ” Van Teyl persisted. 

“ If I have, it’s my own affair,” was the curt reply, 
“ and I don’t tell news over the telephone, anyway. 
Watch the market, and go on selling where you can.” 

“ I shall do as you order,” Van Teyl replied, “ but 
you’re all against the general tone here. By the 
bye, you got my letter? ” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 193 

“ I haven’t opened it yet,” Fischer snapped. 
‘‘ What’s the matter? ” 

‘‘ Pamela and I have taken a little flat in Fifty- 
eighth Street. Seems a little abrupt, but she didn’t 
want to be alone, and she hates hotels. We felt sure 
you’d understand.” 

“ Yes, I understand,” Fischer said. Good-by ! 
I’m busy.” 

The doctor completed his examination. When he 
had finished he mentioned his fee. 

“ You work too hard, and you live in an atmo- 
sphere of too great strain. The natural conse- 
quences are already beginning to show themselves. 
If I give you medicine, it will only encourage you to 
keep on wasting yourself, but you can have medicine 
if you like.” 

“ Send me something to take for the next fort- 
night,” Fischer replied. ‘‘ After that. I’ll take my 
chance.” 

The doctor wrote a prescription and took his leave. 
Fischer leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. 
His mind travelled back through these latter days of 
his over-strenuous life. In such minutes of relaxa- 
tion, few of which he permitted himself, he realised 
with bitter completeness the catastrophe which had 
overtaken him — him, Oscar Fischer, of all men on 
earth. Into his life of grim purposes, of lofty and 
yet narrow ambitions, of almost superhuman tenac- 
ity, had crept the one weakening strain whose pres- 
ence in other men he had always scoffed at and de- 
rived. There was a new and enervating glamour 
over the days, a new and hatefully powerful rival for 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


394 

all his thoughts and dreams. Ten years ago, he 
reflected sadly, this might have made a different man 
of him, might have unlocked the gates into another, 
more peaceful and beautiful world, visions of which 
had sometimes vaguely disturbed him in his cold and 
selfish climb. Now it could only mean suffering. 
This was the first stroke. It was the assertion 
of humanity which was responsible for his pres- 
ent weakness. How far might it not drag him 
down ? 

There should be a fight, at any rate, he told him- 
self, as an hour or two later he made his way downc 
town. He paid several calls in the vicinity of Wall 
Street, and finished up in Van Teyl’s office. That 
young man greeted him with a certain relief. 

“ You know the tone of the market’s still against 
y^ou, Fischer,” he warned him once more. 

Fischer threw himself into the client’s easy-chair. 
The furniture in the office seemed less distinct than 
usual. He was conscious of a certain haziness of 
outline in everything. Van Teyl’s face, even, was 
shrouded in a little mist. Then he suddenly found 
himself fighting fiercely, fighting for his conscious- 
ness, fighting against a wave of giddiness, a deadly 
sinking of the heart, a strange slackening of aU his 
nerve power. The young stockbroker rose hastily 
to his feet. 

‘‘ Anything wrong, old fellow ” he asked anx- 
iously. 

“ A glass of water,” Fischer begged. 

He was conscious of drinking it, vaguely conscious 
that he was winning. Soon the office had regained 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


195 

its ordinary appearance, his pulse was beating more 
regularly. He had once more the feeling of living — 
of living, though in a minor key. 

‘‘ A touch of liver,” he murmured. “ What did 
you say about the markets ? ” 

“ You look pretty rotten,” Van Teyl remarked 
sympathetic all}^ “ Shall I send out for some 
brandy.? ” 

“ Not for me,” Fischer scoffed. “ I don’t need it. 
What price are Anglo-French.?” 

‘‘ Ninety-four. You’ve only done them in a point, 
^fter all, and that’s nominal. I daresay I could get 
ten thousand back at that.” 

‘‘ Let them alone,” was the calm reply. “ I’ll sell 
another fifty thousand at ninety-four.” 

“ Look here,” Van Teyl said, swinging round in 
his chair, “ I like the business and I know you can 
finance it, but are you sure that you realise what 
you are doing.? Every one believes Anglo-French 
have touched their bottom. They’ve only to go back 
to where they were — say five points — and you’d 
lose half a million.” 

Fischer smiled a little wearily. 

“ That small sum in arithmetic,” he remonstrated, 
‘‘had already passed through my brain. Send in 
your selling order, Jim, and come out to lunch with 
me. I’ve come straight through from Washington 
— only got in this morning.” 

Van Teyl called in his clerk and gave a few or- 
ders. Then he took up his hat and left the office 
with his client. 

“ From Washington, eh.? ” he remarked curiously,. 


196 THE PAWNS COUNT 

as they passed into the crowded streets. “ So that 
accounts — ” 

He broke off abruptly. His companion’s warning 
fingers had tightened upon his arm. 

‘‘ Quite right ! ” Van Teyl confessed. “ There’s 
gossip enough about now, and they seem to have 
tumbled to it that you’re our client. The office has 
been besieged this morning. Sorry, Ned, I’m busy,” 
he went on, to a man who tried to catch his arm. 
“See you later, Fred. I’ll be in after lunch, Mr. 
Borrodaile. No, nothing fresh that I know of.” 

Fischer smiled grimly. 

“ Got you into a kind of hornets’ nest, eh? ” he 
observed. 

“ It’s been like this all the morning,” Van Teyl 
told him. “ They believe I know something. Even 
the newspaper men are tumbling to it. We’ll lunch 
up at the club. Maybe we’U get a little peace there.” 

They stepped into the hall of a great building, 
and took one of the interminable row of lifts. A 
few minutes later they were seated at a side table 
in a dining room on the top floor of one of the huge 
modern skyscrapers. Below them stretched a silent 
panorama of the city; beyond, a picturesque view 
of the river. A fresh breeze blew in through the 
opened window. They were above the noise, even, 
of the street cars. 

“Order me a small bottle of champagne, James,” 
Fischer begged, “ and some steak.” 

Van Teyl stared at his companion and laughed as 
he took up the wine list. 

“Well, that’s the first time, Fischer, I’ve known 


THE PAWNS COUNT igy 

you to touch a drop of an3^thing before the evening! 
I’ll have a whisky and soda with you. Thank God 
we’re away from that inquisitive crowd for a few 
minutes! Are you going to give me an idea of 
what’s moving? ” 

Fischer watched the wine being poured into his< 
glass. 

Not until this evening,” he said. “ I want yotii 
to bring your sister and come and dine at the new 
roof-garden.” 

I don’t know whether Pamela has any engage- 
ment,” Van Teyl began, a little dubiously. 

‘‘ Please go and see,” Fischer begged earnestly. 
‘‘ The telephones are just outside. Tell your sister 
that I particularly wish her to accept my invitation. 
Tell her that there will be news.” 

Van Teyl went out to the telephone. Fischer 
sipped his champagne and crumbled up his bread, 
his eyes fixed a little dreamily on the grey river* 
He was already conscious of the glow of the wine 
in his veins. The sensation was half pleasurable, 
in a sense distasteful to him. He resented this arti- 
ficial humanity. He had the feeling of a man who> 
has stooped to be doped by a quack doctor. And; 
he was a little afraid. 

His young companion returned triumphant. 

“ Had a little trouble with Pamela,” he observed^, 
as he resumed his place at the table. “ She was 
thinking of the opera with a girl friend she picked! 
up this morning. However, the idea of news, I 
think, clinched it. We’ll be at the Oriental at eightt 
o’clock, eh? ” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


198 

Fischer looked up from the fascinating patchwork 
below. Already there was anticipation in his face. 

“ I am very glad,” he said. There will certainly 
be news.” 


CHAPTER XXIV 


“ Now indeed I feel that I am in New York,” 
Pamela declared, as she broke oif one of the blossoms 
of the great cluster of deep red roses by her side, and 
gazed downward over her shoulder at the far-flung 
carpet of lights. “ One sees little bits of America 
in every country of the world, but never this.” 

Fischer, unusually grave and funereal-looking in 
his dinner clothes and black tie, followed her gesture 
with thoughtful eyes. Everything that was ugly in 
the stretching arms of the city seemed softened, 
shrouded and bejewelled. Even the sounds, the rat- 
tle and roar of the overhead railways, the clanging 
of the electric car bells, the shrieking of the sirens 
upon the river, seemed somehow to have lost their 
harsh note, to have become the human cry of the 
great live city, awaking and stretching itself for the 
night. 

“ I agree with you,” he said. You dine at the 
Ritz-Carlton and you might be in Paris. You dine 
here, and one knows that you are in America.” 

“Yet even here we have become increasingly 
luxurious,” Pamela remarked, looking around. 
“ The glass and linen upon the tables are quite 
French; those shaded lights are exquisite. That 
little band, too, was playing at the Ritz three years. 


1Z00 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

ago. I am sure that the maitre d’hotel who brought 
us to our table was once at the Cafe de Paris.” 

“ Money would draw all those things from Europe 
even to the Sahara,” Fischer observed, “ so long as 
there were plenty of it. But millions could not buy 
our dining table in the clouds.” 

A little effort of the imagination, fortunately,” 
Pamela laughed, looking upwards. There are 
stars, but no clouds.” 

“ I guess one of them is going to slip down to the 
next table before long,” Van Teyl observed, with a 
little movement of his head. 

They all three turned around and looked at the 
wonderful bank of pink roses within a few feet of 
them. 

“ One of the opera women, I daresay,” the young 
man continued. They are rather fond of this 
place.” 

Pamela leaned forward. Fischer was watching 
the streets below. Only a short distance away was 
A huge newspaper building, flaring with lights. The 
pavements fringing it were thronged with a little 
stationary crowd. A row of motor-bicycles was in 
waiting. A night edition of the paper was almost 
due. 

“ Mr. Fischer,” she asked, “ what about that 
news ? ” 

He withdrew his eyes from the street. Almost 
unconsciously he straightened himself a little in his 
place. There was pride in his tone. Behind his 
spectacles his eyes flashed. 

“ I would have told it you before,” he said, ‘‘ but 


2or 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

you would not have believed it. Soon — in a very 
few moments — the news will be known. You will 
see it break away in waves from that building down 
there, so I will bear with your incredulity. The 
German and British fleets have met, and the victory 
has remained with us.” 

With us ? ” Pamela repeated. 

“ With Germany,” Fischer corrected himself 
hastily. 

“Is this true.?” James Van Teyl almost shouted. 
“ Fischer, are you sure of what you’re saying? 
Why, it’s incredible ! ” 

“ It is true,” was the proud reply. “ The German 
Navy has been a long time proving itself. It has 
done so now. To-day every German citizen is the 
proudest creature breathing. He knew before that 
his armies were invincible. He knows now that his 
fleet is destined to make his country the mistress 
of the seas. England’s day is over. Her ships were 
badly handled and foolishly flung into battle. She 
has lost many of her finest units. Her Navy is 
to-day a crippled and maimed force. The German- 
fleet is out in the North Sea, waiting for an enemy 
who has disappeared.” 

“ It is inconceivable,” Pamela gasped. 

“ I do not ask you to believe my word,” Fischer 
exclaimed. “ Look ! ” 

As though the flood gates had been suddenly 
opened, the stream of patient waiters broke away 
from the newspaper building below. Like little fire- 
flies, the motor-bicycles were tearing down the differ- 
ent thoroughfares. Boys like ants, with their bur- 


302 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


den of news sheets, were running in every direc 
tion. Motor-trucks had started on their furious 
race. Even the distant echoes of their cries came 
faintly up. Fischer called a messenger and sent him 
for a paper. 

“ I do not know what report you will see,” he said, 
‘‘ but from whatever source it comes it will confirm 
my story. The news is too great and sweeping to 
be contradicted or ignored.” 

‘‘ If it’s true,” Van Teyl muttered, “ you’ve made 
a fortune in my office to-day. It looks like it, too. 
There was something wrong with Anglo-French be- 
side your selling for the last hour this afternoon. I 
couldn’t get buyers to listen for a moment.” 

‘‘ Yes, I shall have made a great deal of money,” 
Fischer admitted, “ money which I shall value be- 
cause it comes magnificently, but I hope that this 
victory may help me to win other things.” 

He looked fixedly at Pamela, and she moved un- 
easily in her chair. Almost unconsciously the man 
himself seemed somehow associated with his cause, 
to be assuming a larger and more tolerant place in 
her thoughts. Perhaps there was some measure of 
greatness about him after all. The strain of wait- 
ing for the papers became almost intolerable. At 
last the boy reappeared. The great black head- 
lines were stretched out before her. She felt the en- 
velopment of Fischer’s triumph. The words were 
there in solid type, and the paper itself was one of 
ihe most reliable. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 203 

GREAT NAVAL BATTLE IN THE NORTH SEA. 

BRITISH ADMIRALTY ADMITS SERIOUS 
LOSSES. 

QUEEN MARY;^ “ INDEFATIGABLE,” AND 
MANY FINE SHIPS LOST. 

Pamela looked up from the sheet. 

“ It is too wonderful,” she whispered, with a note 
of awe in her tone. “ I don’t think that any one ever 
expected this. We all believed in the British Navy.” 

“ There is nothing,” Fischer declared, “ that Eng- 
land can do which Germany cannot do better.” 

“ And America best of all,” Pamela said. 

Fischer bowed. 

“ That is one comparison which will never now be 
made,” he declared, “ for from to-night Germany 
and America will draw nearer together. The bubble 
of British naval omnipotence is pricked.” 

MeamvhUe,” Van Teyl observed, putting his pa- 
per away, we are neglecting our dinner. Nothing 
like a good dose of sensationalism for giving us an 
appetite.” 

Fischer was watching his glass being filled with 
champagne. He seized it by the stem. His eyes for 
a moment travelled upwards. 

‘‘ I am an American citizen,” he said, with a 
strange fervour in his tone, “ but for the moment I 
am called back. And so I lift my glass and I drink 
— I alone, without invitation to you others — to 
those brave souls who have made of the North Sea a 
holy battle-ground.” 

He drained his glass and set it down empty. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


204 

Pamela watched him as though fascinated. For a 
single moment she was conscious of a queer sensa- 
tion of personal pity for some shadowy and absent 
friend, of something almost like a lump in her throat, 
a strange instinct of antagonism towards the man 
^by her side so enveloped in beatific satisfaction — 
then she frowned when she realised that she had been 
thinking of Lutchester, that her first impulse had 
been one of sympathy for him. The moment passed. 
The service of dinner was pressed more insistently 
upon them. James Van Teyl, who had been leaning 
back in his chair, talking to one of the maitres 
d’hotel, dismissed him with a little nod and entrusted 
them with a confidence. 

‘‘ Say, do you know who’s coming to the next 
table ” he exclaimed. ‘‘ Sonia ! ” 

They were all interested. 

You won’t mind.? ” Fischer asked diffidently. 

“ In a restaurant, how absurd ! ” Pamela laughed. 

Why, I’m dying to see her. I wonder how it is 
that some of these greatest singers in the world 
lead such extraordinary lives that people can never 
know anything of them.” 

‘‘ Society is tolerant enough nowadays,” her 
brother observed, “ but Sonia won’t give them even 
a decent chance to wink at her eccentricities. She 
crossed, you know, on the Prince Doronda’s yacht, 
for fear they wouldn’t let her land.” 

Here she comes,” Pamela whispered. 

There was a moment’s spellbound silence. Two 
anaitres d’hotel were hurrying in front. A pathway 
from the lift had been cleared as though for a royal 


THE PAWNS COUNT 205 

personage. Sonia, in white from head to foot, a 
dream of white lace and chinchilla, with a Russian 
crown of pearls in her glossy black hair, and a rope 
of pearls around her neck, came like a waxen figure, 
with scarlet lips and flashing eyes, towards her table. 
And behind her — Lutchester ! Pamela felt her fin- 
gers gripping the tablecloth. Her first impulse, cu- 
riously enough, was one of wild fury with herself for 
that single instant’s pity. Her face grew cold and 
hard. She felt herself sitting a little more upright. 
Her eyes remained fixed upon the newcomers. 

Lutchester’s behaviour was admirable. His 
glance swept their little table without even a shadow 
of interest. He ignored with passive unconcern the 
mistake of Van Teyl’s attempted greeting. He 
looked through Fischer as though he had been a 
ghost. He stood by Sonia’s side while she seated 
herself, and listened with courteous pleasure to her 
excited admiration of the flowers and the wonderful 
vista. Then he took his own place. In his right 
hand he was carrying an evening paper with its 
flaming headlines. 

‘‘ That,” Fischer pronounced, struggling to keep 
the joy from his tone, “is very British and very 
magnificent ! ” 

Pamela had imperfect recollections of the rest of 
the evening. She remembered that she was more 
than usually gay throughout dinner-time, but that 
she was the first to jump at the idea of a hurried 
departure and a visit to a cabaret. Every now 
and then she caught a glimpse of Sonia’s face, saw 


206 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


the challenging light in her brilliant eyes, heard lit- 
tle scraps of her conversation. The Frenchwoman 
spoke always in her own language, with a rather 
shrill voice, which made Lutchester’s replies sound 
graver and quieter than usual. More than once 
Pamela’s eyes rested upon the broad lines of his 
back. He sat all the time like a rock, courteous, at 
times obviously amusing, but underneath it all she 
fancied that she saw some signs of the disturbance 
from which she herself was suffering. She rose to 
her feet at last with a little sigh of relief. It was 
an ordeal through which she had passed. 

Once in the lift, her brother and Fischer discussed 
Lutchester’s indiscretion volubly. 

“ I suppose,” Van Teyl declared, “ that there isn’t 
a man in New York who wouldn’t have jumped at 
the chance of dining alone with Sonia, but for an 
Englishman, on a night like this,” he went on, glanc- 
ing at the paper, “ say, he must have some nerve ! ” 

“ Or else,” Fischer remarked, “ a wonderful in- 
difference. So far as I have studied the Anglo- 
Saxon temperament, I should be inclined to vote for 
the indifference. That is why I think Germany will 
win the war. Every man in that country prays for 
his country’s success, not only in words, but with 
his soul. I have not found the same spirit in Eng- 
land.” 

“ The English people,” Pamela interposed, ‘‘ have 
a genius for concealment which amounts to stupid- 
ity.” 

‘‘ I have a theory,” Fischer said, “ that to be 
phlegmatic after a certain pitch is a sign of low 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


207 

vitality. However, we shall see. Certainly, if Eng- 
land is to be saved from her present trouble, it will 
not be the Lutchesters of the world who will do it, 
nor, it seems, her Navy.” 

They found their way to a large cabaret, where 
Pamela listened to an indifferent performance a little 
wearily. The news of what was termed a naval dis- 
aster to Great Britain was flashed upon the screen, 
and, generally speaking, the audience was stunned. 
Fischer behaved throughout the evening with tact 
and discretion. He made few references to the mat- 
ter, and was careful not to indulge in any undue 
exhilaration. Once, when Van Teyl had left the 
box, however, to speak to some friends, he turned 
earnestly to Pamela. 

‘‘ Will it please you soon,” he begged, “ to resume 
our conversation of the other day? However you 
may look at it, things have changed, have they not? 
An invincible British Navy has been one of the fun- 
damental principles of beliefs in American politics. 
Now that it is destroyed, the outlook is different. 
I could go myself to the proper quarter in Washing- 
ton, or Von Schwerin is here to be my spokesman. I 
have a fancy, though, to work with you. You know 
why.” 

She moved uneasily in her place. 

‘‘ I have no idea,” she objected, ‘‘ what it is that 
you have to propose. Besides, I am only just a 
woman who has been entrusted with a few diplo- 
matic errands.” 

“ You are the niece of Senator Hastings,” Fischer 
reminded her, “ and Hastings is the man through 


208 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


whom I should like my proposal to go to the Presi- 
dent. It is an honest offer which I have to make, 
and although it cannot pass through official chan- 
nels, it is official in the highest sense of the word, 
because it comes to me from the one man who is 
in a position to make himself responsible for it.” 

Her brother came back to the box before Pamela 
could reply, but, as they parted that night, she gave 
Fischer her hand. 

“ Come and see our new quarters,” she invited. 
“ I shall be at home any time to-morrow afternoon.” 

It was one of the moments of Fischer’s life. He 
bowed low over her fingers. 

‘‘ I accept, with great pleasure,” he murmured. 


I 


CHAPTER XXV 


Sonia had the air of one steeped in an almost 
ecstatic content. On her return from the roof gar- 
den she had exchanged her wonderful gown for a 
white silk negligee, and her headdress of pearls for 
a quaint little cap. She was stretched upon a sofa 
drawn before the wide-flung French windows of her 
little sitting-room at the Ritz-Carlton, a salon dec- 
orated in pink and white, and filled almost to over- 
flowing with the roses which she loved. By her side, 
in an easy chair which she had pressed him to draw 
up to her couch, sat Lutchester. 

‘‘ This,” she murmured, is one of the evenings 
which I adore. I have no work, no engagements — 
just one friend with whom to talk. My fine clothes 
have done. I am myself,” she added, stretching out 
her arms. I have my cigarettes, my iced sherbet, 
and the lights and murmur of the city there below to 
soothe me. And you to talk with me, my friend. 
What are you thinking of me — that I am a little 
animal who loves comfort too much, eh? ” 

Lutchester smiled. 

‘‘ We all love comfort,” he replied. ‘‘ Some of us 
are franker than others about it.” 

She made a little grimace. 

“ Comfort ! It is my own word, but what a word ! 


210 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


It is luxury I worship — luxury — and a friend. Is 
that, perhaps, another word too slight, eh? ” 

He met the provocative gleam of her eyes with a 
smile of amusement. 

“ You are just the same child, Sonia,” he re- 
marked. “ Neither climate nor country, nor the few 
passing years, can change you.” 

“ It is you who have grown older and sterner,” 
she pouted. “ It is you who have lost the gift of 
living to-day as though to-morrow were not. There 
was a time, w^as there not, John, when you did not 
care to sit always so far away? ” 

She laid her hand — ringless, over-manicured, but 
delicately white — upon his. He smoothed it gently. 

“ You see, Sonia,” he sighed, ‘‘ troubles have come 
that harden the hearts even of the gayest of us.” 

She frowned. 

“ You are not going to remind me — ” she began. 

If I reminded you of anything, Sonia,” he inter- 
rupted, I would remind you that you are a French- 
woman.” 

She stretched out her hand restlessly and took one 
of the Russian cigarettes from a bowl by her 
side. 

“ You are not, by any chance, going to talk seri- 
ously, dear John? ” 

“ I am,” he assured her, “ very seriously.” 

“ Oh, la, la! ” she laughed. ‘‘ You, my dear, gay 
companion, you who have shaken the bells all your 
life, you are going to talk seriously ! And to-nighty 
when we meet again after so long. Ah, well, why 
should I be surprised? ” she went on, with a pout. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


211 


You have changed. When one looks into your 
face, one sees the difference. But to me, of all peo- 
ple in the world ! Why talk seriously to me ! I am 
just Sonia, the gipsy nightingale. I know nothing 
of serious things.” 

You carry one very serious secret in your heart,” 
he told her gravely, “ one little pain which must 
sometimes stab you. You are a Frenchwoman, and 
yet — ” 

Lutchester paused for a moment. Sonia, too, 
seemed suddenly to have awakened into a state of 
tense and vivid emotion. The cigarette burned away 
between her fingers. Her great eyes were fixed upon 
Lutchester. There was something almost like fear 
in their questioning depths. 

‘‘ Finish ! Finish ! ” she insisted. Continue ! ” 

“ And yet,” he went on, “ your very dear friend, 
the friend for whose sake you are here in America, 
is your country’s enemy.” 

She raised herself a little upon the couch. 

“ That is not true,” she declared furiously. 
“ Maurice loves France. His heart aches for the 
misery that has come upon her. It is your country 
only which he hates. If France had but possessed 
the courage to stand by herself, to resist when Eng- 
land forced her friendship upon her, none of this 
tragedy would ever have happened. Maurice has 
told me so himself. France could have peace to- 
day, peace at her own price.” 

“ There is no peace which would leave France with 
a soul, save the peace which follows victory,” Lut- 
chester replied sternly. 


212 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


She crushed her cigarette nervously in her fingers, 
threw it away, and lit another. 

will not talk of these things with you,” she 
cried. “ It was not for this that you sought me out, 
eh? Tell me at once? Were these the thoughts 
you had in your mind when you sent your little note ? 
— when you chose to show yourself once more in my 
life? ” 

For the first time of his own accord he drew his 
chair a little nearer to hers. He took her hand. 
She gave him both unresistingly. 

Listen, dear Sonia,” he said, “ it is true that I 
am a changed man. I am older than when we met 
last, and there are the other things. You remem- 
ber the Chateau d’ Albert? ” 

“ Of course ! ” she murmured. And the young 
Due d’Albert’s wonderful house party. We all 
motored there from Paris. You and I were together ! 
You have forgotten that, eh? ” 

“ I lay in that orchard for two days,” he went on 
grimly, ‘‘ with a hole in my side and one leg pretty 
nearly done for. I saw things I can never forget, 
in those days, Sonia. D’Albert himself was killed. 
It was in that first mad rush. Of the Chateau there 
remains but four blackened walls.” 

“ Pauvre enfant! ” she murmured. ‘‘ But you are 
well and strong again now, is it not so? You will 
not fight again, eh? You were never a soldier, dear 
friend.” 

“Just now,” he confided, “I have other work to 
do. It is that other work which has brought me to 
America.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


213 

She drew him a little closer to her. Her eyes ques- 
tioned him. 

‘‘ There is, perhaps, now,” she asked, “ a woman 
in your life? ” 

“ There is,” he admitted. 

She made a grimace. 

But how clumsy to tell me, even though I asked,” 
she exclaimed. “What is she like? . . . But no, 
I do not wish to hear of her ! If she is all the world 
to you, why did you send me that little note? Why 
are you here? ” 

“ Because we were once dear friends, Sonia,” he 
said, “ because I wish to save you from great 
trouble.” 

She shrank from him a little fearfully. 

“ What do you mean ? ” 

“ Sonia,” he continued, with a note of sternness in 
his tone, “ during the last two years you have gone 
back and forth between New York and Paris, six 
times. I do not think that you can make that jour- 
ney again.” 

She was standing now, with one hand gripping 
the edge of the table. 

“John! . . . John! . . . What do you mean?” 
she demanded, and this time her own voice was hard. 

“ I mean,” he said, “ that when you leave here 
for Paris you will be watched day and night. The 
moment you set foot upon French soil you will be 
arrested and searched. If anything is found upon 
you, such as a message from your friend in Wash- 
ington — well, you know what it would mean. Can’t 
you see, you foolish child, the risk you have been 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


214 

running? Would you care to be branded as a spy? 
— you, a daughter of France? ” 

She struck at him. Her lace sleeves had fallen 
back, and her white arm, with its little clenched 
fist, flashed through the twilight, aimlessly yet pas- 
sionately. 

“ You dare to call me a spy 1 You, John? ” she 
shrieked. “ But it is horrible.” 

“ It is the work of a spy,” he told her gravely, “ to 
bring a letter from any person in a friendly capital 
and deliver it to an enemy. That is what you have 
done, Sonia, many times since the beginning of the 
war, so far without detection. It is because you are 
Sonia that I have come to save you from doing it 
again.” 

She groped her way back to the couch. She threw 
herself upon it with her back towards him, her head 
buried in her hands. 

‘‘ The letters are only between friends,” she fal- 
tered. “ They have nothing to do with the war.” 

‘‘ You may have believed that,” Lutchester replied 
gently, “but it is not true. You have been made 
the bearer of confidential communications from the 
Austrian Embassy here to certain people in Paris 
whom we will not name. I have pledged my word, 
Sonia, that this shall cease.” 

She sprang to her feet. All the feline joy of her 
languorous ease seemed to have departed. She was 
quivering and nervous. She stood over her writing- 
table. 

“ A telegraph blank ! ” she exclaimed. “ Quick ! 
I will not see Maurice again. Oh, how I have suf- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 215 

fered ! This shall end it. See, I have written 
‘ Good-by ! ’ He will understand. If he comes, I 
will not see him. Ring the bell quickly. There — 
it is finished ! ” 

A page-boy appeared, and she handed him the 
telegram. Then she turned a little pathetically to 
Lutchester. 

“ Maurice was foolish — very often foolish,” she 
went on unsteadily, ‘‘but he has loved me, and a 
woman loves love so much. Now I shall be lonely. 
And yet, there is a great weight gone from my mind. 
Always I wondered about those letters. You will 
be my friend, John? You will not leave me all 
alone? ” 

He patted her hand. 

“ Dear Sonia,” he whispered, “ solitude is not the 
worst thing one has to bear, these days. Try and 
remember, won’t you, that all the men who might 
have loved you are fighting for your country, one 
way or another.” 

“ It is all so sad,” she faltered, “ and you — you 
are so stern and changed.” 

“ It is with me only as it is with the whole world,” 
he told her. “ To-night, though, you have relieved 
me of one anxiety.” 

Her eyes once more were for a moment frightened. 

“ There was danger for poor little me? ” 

He nodded. 

“ It is past,” he assured her. 

“ And it is you who have saved me,” she mur- 
mured. “ Ah, Mr. John,” she added, as she walked 
with him to the door, “ if ever there comes to me 


2i6 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


a lover, not for the days only but pour la vie, I hope 
that he may be an Englishman like you, whom all the 
world trusts.” 

He laughed and raised her fingers to his lips. 
Over-faithful, you called us once,” he reminded 

her. 

“ But that was when I was a child,” she said, 
and in days like these we are children no longer.” 


CHAPTER XXVI 


Lutchester left Sonia and the Ritz-Carlton a few 
minutes before midnight, to find a great yellow moon 
overhead, which seemed to have risen somewhere at 
the back of Central Park. The broad thoroughfare 
up which he turned seemed to have developed a new 
and unfamiliar beauty. The electric lamps shone 
with a pale and almost unnatural glow. The flashing 
lights of the automobiles passing up and down were 
almost whimsically unnecessary. Lutchester walked 
slowly up Fifth Avenue in the direction of his 
hotel. 

Something — the beauty of the night, perhaps, or 
some faint aftermath of sentimentality born of 
Sonia’s emotion — tempted him during those few mo- 
ments to relax. He threw aside his mask and 
breathed the freer for it. Once more he was a 
human being, treading the streets of a real city, his 
feet very much upon the earth, his heart full of the 
simplest things. All the scheming of the last few 
days was forgotten, the great issues, the fine yet 
devious way to be steered amidst the rocks which 
beset him; even the depression of the calamitous 
news from the North Sea passed away. He was a 
very simple human being, and he was in love. It 
was all so unpractical, so illusionary, and yet so 
real. Events, actual happenings — he thrust all 


2I8 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


thoughts of these away from his mind. What she 
might be thinking of him at the moment he ignored. 
He was content to let his thoughts rest upon her, 
to walk through the moonlit street, his brain and 
heart revelling in that subtle facility of the im- 
agination which brought her so easily to his pres- 
ence. It was ^uch a vividly real Pamela, too, who 
spoke and walked and moved by his side. His mem- 
ory failed him nowhere, followed faithfully the kalei- 
doscopic changes in her face and tone, showed him 
even that long, grateful, searching glance when their 
eyes had met in Von Teyl’s sitting-room. There had 
been times when she had shown clearly enough that 
she was anxious to understand, anxious to believe 
in him. He clung to the memory of these; pushed 
into the background that faint impression he had had 
of her at the roof-garden, serene and proud, yet with 
a faint look of something like pain in her startled 
eyes. 

A large limousine passed him slowdy, crawling up 
Fifth Avenue. Lutchester, w'ith all his gifts of ob- 
servation dormant, took no notice of its occupant, 
who leaned forward, raised the speaking-tube to his 
lips, and talked for a moment to his chauffeur. The 
car glided round a side street and came to a stand- 
still against the curb. Its solitary passenger 
stepped quietly out and entered a restaurant. The 
chauffeur backed the car a little, slipped from his 
place, and followed Lutchester. 

By chance the little throng of people here became 
thicker for a few moments and then ceased. Lut- 
chester drew a little sigh of relief as he saw before 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


219 

him almost an empty pavement. Then, just as he 
was relapsing once more into thought, some part 
of his subconscious instinct suddenly leaped into 
warning life. Without any actual perception of 
what it might mean, he felt the thrill of imminent 
danger, connected it with that soft footfall behind 
him, and swung round in time to seize a deadly 
uplifted hand which seemed to end in a shimmer of 
dull steel. His assailant flung himself upon Lut- 
chester with the lithe ferocity of a cat, clinging to 
his body, twisting and turning his arm to wrest it 
free. It was a matter of seconds only before his 
intended victim, with a fierce backward twist, broke 
the man’s wrist and, wrenching himself free from 
tlije knees which clung around him, flung him forcibly 
against the railings which bordered the pavement. 
Lutchester paused for a moment to recover his breath 
and looked around. A man from the other side of 
the street was running towards them, but no one 
else seemed to have noticed the struggle which had 
begun and finished in less than thirty seconds. The 
man, who was half-way across the thoroughfare, sud- 
denly stopped short. He shouted a warning to Lut- 
chester, who swung around. His late assailant, who 
had been lying motionless, had raised himself slightly, 
with a revolver clenched in his left hand. Lutches- 
ter’s spring on one side saved his life, for the bullet 
passed so close to his cheek that he felt the rush and 
heat of the air. The man in the center of the road 
was busy shouting an alarm vociferously, and other 
people on both sides of the thoroughfare were run- 
ning up. Lutchester’s eyes now never left the dark, 


220 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


doubled-up figure upon the pavement. His whole 
body was tense. He was prepared at the slightest 
movement to spring in upon his would-be murderer. 
The man’s eyes seemed to be burning in his white 
face. He called out to Lutchester hoarsely. 

“ Don’t move or I shall shoot ! ” 

He looked up and down the street. One of the 
nearest of the hastening figures was a policeman. 
He turned the revolver against his own temple and 
pulled the trigger. . . . 

Lutchester and a policeman walked slowly back 
along Fifth Avenue. Behind them, a little crowd 
was still gathered around the spot from which the 
body of the dead man had already been removed in 
an ambulance. 

“ I really remember nothing,” Lutchester told his 
companion, “ until I heard the footsteps behind me, 
and, turning round, saw the knife. This is simply 
an impression of mine — that he might have de- 
scended from the car which passed me and stopped 
just round the corner of that street.” 

“ He’s a chauffeur, right enough,” the inspector 
remarked. “ It don’t seem to have been a chance 
job, either. Looks as though he meant doing you 
in. Got any enemies ? ” 

“ None that I know of?” Lutchester answered 
cautiously. “ Why, the car’s there still,” he added, 
as they reached the comer. 

“ And no chauffeur,” the other muttered. 

The officer searched the car and drew out a license 
from the flap pocket. The commissionaire from the 
restaurant approached them. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


221 


“ Say, what are you doing with that car? ” he de- 
manded. 

“ Better fetch the gentleman to whom it belongs,” 
the inspector directed. 

“What’s up, anyway?” the man persisted. 

“ You do as you’re told,” was the sharp reply. 

The commissionaire disappeared. The officer 
studied the license which he had just opened. 

“ What’s the name ? ” Lutchester inquired. 

The man hesitated for a moment, then passed it 
over. 

“ Oscar H. Fischer,” he said. Happen to know 
the name? ” 

Lutchester ’s face was immovable. He passed the 
license back again. They both turned round. Mr. 
Fischer had issued from the restaurant. 

“ What’s wrong? ” he asked hastily. “ The com- 
missionaire says you v ant me, Mr. Officer ? ” 

The inspector prodi ced his pocketbook. 

“ Just want to ask you a few questions about your 
chauffeur, sir.” 

Fischer glanced at the driver’s seat of the car, as 
though aware of the man’s disappearance for the 
first time. 

“ What’s become of the fellow? ” he inquired. 

“ Shot himself,” the inspector replied, “ after a 
deliberate attempt to murder this gentleman.” 

Mr. Fischer’s composure was admirable. There 
was a touch of gravity mingled with his bewilderment. 
Nevertheless, he avoided meeting Lutchester’s eyes. 

“You horrify me!” he exclaimed. “Why, the 
fellow’s only been driving for me for a few hours.” 


222 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ That so ? ” the officer remarked, with a grunt. 
‘‘ Get any references with him? ” 

“ As a matter of fact, I did not,” Fischer admitted 
frankly. “ I discharged my chauffeur yesterday, at 
a moment’s notice, and this man happened to call 
just as I was wanting the car out this afternoon. 
He promised to bring me references to-morrow from 
Mr. Gould and others. I engaged him on that un- 
derstanding. He told me that his name was Kay — 
Robert Kay. That is all that I know about him, 
except that he was an excellent driver. I am ex- 
ceedingly sorry Mr. Lutchester,” he went on, turn- 
ing towards him, ‘‘ that this should have happened.” 

“ So you two know one another, eh? ” the officer 
observed. 

“ Oh, yes, we know one another ! ” Lutchester ad- 
mitted drily. 

‘‘ I shall have to ask you both for your names and 
addresses,” the official continued. “ I think I won’t 
ask you any more questions at present. Seems to 
me headquarters had better take this on.” 

‘‘ I shall be quite at your service,” Lutchester 
promised. 

The man made a few more notes, saluted, and took 
his leave. Fischer and Lutchester remained for a 
moment upon the pavement. 

“ It is a dangerous custom,” Lutchester remarked, 
“ to take a servant without a reference.” 

“ It will be a warning to me for the remainder of 
my life,” Fischer declared. 

“ I, too, have learnt something,” Lutchester con- 
cluded, as he turned away. 


CHAPTER XXVII 


Fischer, as he waited for Pamela the following 
afternoon in the sitting-room of her flat on Fifty- 
eighth Street, felt that although the practical fu- 
ture of his life might be decided in other places, it 
was here that its real climax would be reached. 
Pamela herself was to pronounce sentence upon him. 
He was feeling scarcely at his best. An examination 
in the courthouse, which he had imagined would last 
only a few minutes, had been protracted throughout 
the afternoon. The district attorney had asked him 
a great many questions, some rather awkward ones, 
and the inquiry itself had been almost grudgingly 
adjourned for a few hours. And here, in Pamela’s 
sitting-room, the first things which caught his eye 
were the headlines of one of the afternoon papers : 

WESTERN MILLIONAIRE ENGAGES 
THE GIRL HESTE’S MURDERER 
AS CHAUFFEUR! 

ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE 
IN FIFTH AVENUE 
LAST NIGHT. 

Fischer pushed the newspaper impatiently away, 
and, in the act of doing so, the door was opened 


^24 THE PAWNS COUNT 

and Pamela entered. She came towards him with 
outstretched hand. 

‘‘ I see you are looking at the account of your 
misdeeds,” she said, as she seated herself behind a 
tea tray. ‘‘Will you tell me why a cautious man 
like you engages, without reference, a chauffeur who 
turns out to be a murderer? ” 

Fischer frowned irritably. ? 

“ For four hours,” he complained, “ several 
lawyers and a most inquisitive police captain have 
been asking me the same question in a hundred dif- 
ferent ways. I engaged the man because I needed a 
chauffeur badly. He was to have brought his refer- 
ences this morning. I was only trusting him for a 
matter of a few hours.” 

“ And during those few hours,” she observed, “ he 
seems to have developed a violent antipathy to Mr. 
Lutchester.” 

“ I do not understand the affair at all,” Mr. 
Fischer declared, “ and, if I may say so, I am a little 
weary of it. I came here to discuss another matter 
altogether.” 

She leaned back in her place. 

“What have you come to discuss, Mr. Fischer? ” 

“ That depends so much upon you,” he replied. 
“ If you give me any encouragement, I can put 
before you a great proposition. If your prejudices, 
however, remain as I think they always have been, 
on the side of England, why then I can do nothing.” 

“ If I counted for anything,” Pamela said, “ I 
mean to say if it mattered to any one what my 
attitude was, I would start by admitting that my 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


225 

sympathies are somewhat on the side of the Allies. 
On the other hand, my sympathies amount to noth- 
ing at all compared with my interest in the welfare 
of the United States. I am perfectly selfish in that 
respect.” 

“ Then you have an open mind to hear what I 
have to say,” Fischer remarked. I am glad of it. 
You encourage me to proceed.” 

That is all very well,” Pamela said, stirring her 
tea, “ but I cannot help asking once more why you 
come to me at all? What have I to do with any 
proposition you may have to make? ” 

“ Just this,” he explained. ‘‘ I have a serious and 
authentic proposition to make to the American Gov- 
ernment. I cannot make it officially — although it 
comes from the highest of all sources — for the 
most obvious reasons. It may seem better worth 
listening to to-day, perhaps, than a week ago, so 
far as you are concerned. That is because you be- 
lieved in British invincibility upon the sea. I never 
did.” 

Go on, please,” Pamela begged. “ I am still 
waiting to realise my position in all this.” 

‘‘ I should like,” Fischer declared, “ my proposi- 
tion to reach the President through Senator Hast- 
ings, and Senator Hastings is your uncle.” 

‘‘ I see,” Pamela murmured. 

My offer itself is a very simple one,” Fischer 
continued. Your secret service is so bad that you 
probably know nothing of what is happening. Ours, 
on the other hand, is still marvellously good, and 
what I am going to tell you is surely the truth. 


226 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


Japan is accumulating great wealth. She is saving 
her ships and men for one purpose, and one pur- 
pose only. Europe could not bribe her highly 
enough to take a more active part in this war. Her 
price was one which could not be paid. She de- 
manded a free hand with the United States.” 

“ This,” Pamela admitted, “ is quite interesting, 
but it is entirely in the realms of conjecture, is it 
not? ” 

“ Not wholly,” Fischer insisted. At the proper 
time I should be prepared to bring you evidence that 
tentative proposals were made by Japan to both 
England and France, asking what would be their 
attitude, should she provide them with half a million 
men and undertake transport, if at the conclusion of 
the war she desired a settlement with the United 
States. The answer from France and England was 
the same — that they could not countenance an 
inimical attitude towards the States.” 

You are bound to admit, then,” Pamela re- 
marked, “ that England played the game here.” 

‘‘ The bribe was not big enough,” Fischer replied 
drily. England would sell her soul, but not for a 
mess of pottage. To proceed, however, Japan has 
practically kept out of the war. She is enjoying a 
prosperity never known before, and for every million 
pounds’ worth of munitions she exports to Russia, 
she puts calmly on one side twenty-five per cent, to 
accumulate for her own use. At the conclusion of 
the war she will be in a position she has never oc- 
cupied before, and while the rest of the world is still 
gasping, she will proceed to carry out what has been 


THE PAWNS COUNT 227 

the dream of her life — the invasion of your Western 
States.” 

‘‘ I admit that this is plausible,” Pamela confessed, 
“ but you are only pointing out a very obvious 
danger, for which I imagine that we are already 
fairly well prepared.” 

“ Believe me,” Fischer said earnestly, ‘‘ you are 
not. It is this fact which makes the whole situation 
so vital to you. Later on in our negotiations, I will 
show you proof of your danger. Meanwhile, let me 
proceed to the offer which I am empowered to make, 
which comes direct from the one person in Germany 
whose word is unshakable.” 

Pamela changed her position a little, as though to 
escape from the sunlight which was finding its way 
underneath the broad blinds. Her eyes were fixed 
upon her visitor. She listened intently to every 
word he had to say. Despite some vague feeling of 
mistrust, which she acknowledged to herself might 
well have been prejudiced, she found the situation 
interesting, even stimulating. Her few excursions 
into the world of high politics had never brought her 
into such a position as this. She felt both flattered 
and interested — attracted, too, in some nameless 
way, by the man’s personality, his persistence, his 
daring, his whole-heartedness. The situation was 
instinct with interest to her. 

“ But why make it to me ? ” she murmured. 

“ You are to be my delegate,” he answered. 
“ Take the substance of what I say to you, to your 
uncl^. Try, for your country’s sake, to interest him 
in it. The offer which I make shall save you a vast 


228 THE PAWNS COUNT 

amount of sacrifice. It shall save your dislocating 
the industries of the country and sowing the seeds of 
a disturbing and yet inadequate militarism. I offer 
you, in short, a German alliance against Japan.” 

‘‘ The value of that offer,” Pamela remarked 
thoughtfully, “ would depend rather upon the issue 
of the present war, wouldn’t it ? ” 

Fischer’s face darkened. His tone was almost 
irritable. 

‘‘ That is already preordained,” he said firmly. 
‘‘ You see, I will be quite frank with you. Germany 
has lost her chance of sweeping and complete vic- 
tory. The result of the war will be a return to the 
status-quo-ante. Yet, believe me, Germany will be 
strong enough to settle some of the debts she owes, 
and the debt to Japan is one of these.” 

Still, there is the practical question of getting 
men and ships over from Germany to America,” 
Pamela persisted. 

“ It is already solved,” was the swift reply. “ At 
the proper time I will show you and prove how it 
can be done. At present, not one word can pass 
my lips. It is one of the secrets on which the future 
of Germany depends.” 

‘‘ And the price ? ” Pamela asked. 

‘‘ That America adopts our view as to the high 
seas traffic,” Fischer replied. ‘‘ This would mean 
the stopping of all supplies, munitions and ammu- 
nition from America to England. We offer you an 
alliance. We ask only for your real and actual 
neutrality for the remainder of the war. We offer a 
great and substantial advantage, a safeguard for 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


229 

your country’s future, in return for what? Simply 
that America will pursue the course of honour and 
integrity to all nations.” 

“ America,” Pamela declared, ‘‘ has never failed in 
this.” 

Fischer shrugged his shoulders. 

There is more than one point of view,” he re- 
minded her. ‘‘ Will you take my message with you 
to Washington to-morrow? ” 

“ Yes,” Pamela promised, ‘‘ I will do that. The 
rest, of course, remains with others. I do not myself 
go so far, even,” she added, “ as to declare myself 
in sympathy with you.” 

‘‘ And yet,” he insisted, with swift violence, it is 
your sympathy which I desire more than anything 
in the world — your sympathy, your help, your com- 
panionship ; a little — a very little at first — of your 
love.” 

I am afraid that I am not a very satisfactory 
person from that point of view,” Pamela confessed. 
“ I have a great sympathy with every man who is 
really out for the great things, but so far as you are 
concerned, Mr. Fischer, or any one else,” she went 
on, after a moment’s hesitation, “ I have no personal 
feeling.” 

‘‘ That shall come,” he declared. 

‘‘ Then please wait a little time before you talk 
to me again like this,” she said, rising and hold- 
ing out her hand. “ At present there is no sign 
of it.” 

There is so much that I could offer you,” he 
pleaded, gripping the hand which she had given him 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


230 

in farewell, ‘‘ so much that I could do for your 
country. Believe me, I am not talking idly.” 

“ I do believe that,” she admitted. “ You are a 
very clever man, Mr. Fischer, and I think that you 
represent all that you claim. Perhaps, if we really 
do negotiate — ” 

“ But you must ! ” he interrupted impatiently. 
‘‘You must listen to me for every reason — politi- 
cally for your country’s sake, personally because I 
shall offer you and give you happiness and a position 
you could never find elsewhere.” 

For a moment her eyes seemed to be looking 
through him, as though some vision of things outside 
the room were troubling her. Her finger had al- 
ready touched the bell and a servant was standing 
upon the threshold. 

“ We shall meet in Washington,” Mr. Fischer 
concluded, with an air of a prophet, as he took his 
leave. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


It was within half an hour of closing time that 
same afternoon when Lutchester walked into James 
Van TeyPs office. The young man greeted him with 
some surprise. 

Will you do some business for me? ” Lutchester 
asked, without any preliminaries. 

“ Sure!” 

‘‘How many Anglo-French will you buy for me? 
I can obtain credit by cable to-morrow through any 
bank for twenty or thirty thousand pounds.” 

“ You want to buy Anglo-French? ” Van Teyl re- 
peated softly. 

His visitor nodded. 

“ Any news ? ” 

Lutchester hesitated, and Van Teyl continued with 
an apologetic gesture. 

“ I beg your pardon. That’s not my job, any- 
way, to ask questions. I’ll buy you twenty-five 
thousand, if you like. Guess they can’t drop much 
lower.” 

Lutchester sat down. 

“ Thank you,” he said, “ I will wait.” 

A little ripple of excitement went through the of- 
fice as Van Teyl started his negotiations. It seemed 
to Lutchester that several telephones and half a 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


232 

dozen perspiring young men were called into his serv- 
ice. In the end Van Teyl made out a note and 
handed it to him. 

‘‘ I could have done better for you yesterday,” he 
observed. “ The market is strengthening all the 
time. There are probably some rumours.” 

A boy went by along the pavement outside waving 
a handful of papers. His cry floated in through the 
open window: 

REPORTED LOSS OF MANY MORE GERMAN 
BATTLESHIPS. 

BRITISH CLAIM VICTORY. 

Van Teyl grinned. 

“ You got here just in time,” he murmured, ‘‘but 
I suppose 3^ou knew all about this.” 

“ I have known since three o’clock,” Lutchester 
replied, “ that all the reports of a German victory 
were false. You will find, when the truth is known, 
that the German losses were greater than the 
British.” 

“ Then if that’s so,” Van Teyl remarked, “ I’ve 
got one client who’ll lose a hatful which you ought 
to make. Coming up town ? ” 

“ I should like, if I may,” Lutchester said, “ to be 
permitted to pay my respects to your sister.” 

“Why, that’s fine!” Van Teyl exclaimed uncon- 
vincingly. “ We’ll take the subway up.” 

They left the office and plunged into the indescrib- 
able horrors of their journey. When they stepped 
out into the sunlit street in another atmosphere. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


233 

Van Teyl laid his hand upon his companion’s arm in 
friendly fashion. 

“ Say, Lutchester,” he began, “ I don’t know that 
you are going to find Pamela exactly all that she 
might be in the way of amiability and so on. I know 
these things are done on the other side, but here 
it’s considered trying your friends pretty high to 
take a lady of Sonia’s reputation where you are 
likely to meet your friends. No offence, eh?” 

“ Certainly not,” Lutchester replied. ‘‘ I was 
sorry, of course, to see you last night. On the other 
hand, Sonia is an old friend, and my dinner with her 
had an object. I think I could explain it to your 
sister.” 

‘‘ I don’t know that I should try,” Van Teyl ad- 
vised. ‘‘ For all her cosmopolitanism, Pamela has 
some quaint ideas. However, I thought I’d warn 
you, in case she’s a bit awkward.” 

Pamela, however, had no idea of being awkward. 
She welcomed Lutchester with a very sweet smile, 
and gave him the tips of her fingers. 

“ I was wondering whether we should see you again 
before we went,” she said. “ We are leaving for 
Washington to-morrow.” 

‘‘ By the three o’clock train, I hope ? ” he ven- 
tured. 

She raised her eyebrows. 

“ Why, are you going, too ? ” 

‘‘ I hope so.” 

“I should have thought most of the munition 
works,” she observed, “ were further north.” 

“ They are,” he acknowledged, “ but I have busl- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


234 

ness in Washington. By the bye, will you both come 
out and dine with me to-night.? ” 

Van Teyl glanced at his sister. She shook her 
head. 

“ I am so sorry,” she said, but we are engaged. 
Perhaps we shall see something of you in Washing- 
ton.” 

‘‘ I have no doubt you will,” Lut Chester replied. 
“ All the same,” he added, “ it would give me very 
great pleasure to entertain you at dinner this eve- 
ning.” 

“ Why particularly this evening? ” she asked. 

He looked at her with a queer directness, and 
Pamela felt certain very excellent resolutions crum- 
bling. She suffered her brother to leave the room 
without a word. 

“ Because,” he explained, I think you will find a 
different atmosphere everywhere. There will be 
news in the evening papers.” 

‘‘News?” she repeated eagerly. “You know I 
am always interested in that.” 

“ The reports of a German naval victory were not 
only exaggerated,” Lutchester said calmly ; “ they 
were untrue. Our own official announcement was 
clumsy and tactless, but you will find it amplified 
and explained to-night.” 

Pamela listened with an interest which bordered 
upon excitement. 

“ You are sure? ” she exclaimed. 

“ Absolutely,” he replied. “ My notification is 
official.” 

“ So you think if we dined with you, the atmo- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


235 

sphere to-night would be different? ” she observed, 
with a sudden attempt at the recondite. 

Lutchester looked into her eyes without flinching. 
Pamela, to her annoyance, was worsted in the 
momentary duel. 

“ We cannot always choose our atmosphere,” he 
reminded her. 

“ Mademoiselle Sonia is perhaps connected with 
the regulation of the munition supplies from 
America ? ” 

“ Mademoiselle Sonia,” Lutchester asserted, “ is 
an old friend of mine. Apart from that, it was my 
business to talk to her.” 

“ Your business? ” 

Lutchester assented with perfect gravity. 

“ Within a day or two,” he said, “ now, if you 
made a point of it, I could explain a great deal.” 

Pamela threw herself into a chair almost irritably. 

“ You have the cult of being mysterious, Mr. Lut- 
chester,” she declared. “ To be quite frank with 
you, you seem to be the queerest mixture of any man 
I ever knew.” 

‘‘ It is the fault of circumstances,” he regretted, 
‘‘ if I am sometimes compelled to present myself to 
you in an unfavourable light. Those circumstances 
are passing. You will soon begin to value me at 
my true worth.” 

“ We had half promised,” Pamela murmured, “ to 
go out with Mr. Fischer this evening.” 

“ The more reason for my intervention,” Lut- 
chester observed. “ Fischer is not a fit person for 
you to associate with.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


236 

She laughed curiously. 

“ People who saw you at the roof-garden last 
night might say that you were scarcely a judge,” 
Pamela retorted. 

“ People who did not know the circumstances 
might have considered me guilty of an indiscretion,” 
Lutchester admitted, “ but they would have been 
entirely wrong. On the other hand, your friend 
Fischer is a would-be murderer, a liar, and is at the 
present moment engaged in intrigues which are a 
most immoral compound of duplicity and cunning.” 

“ I shall begin to think,” Pamela murmured, 
“ that you don’t like Mr. Fischer ! ” 

‘‘ I detest him heartily,” Lutchester confessed. 

“ I find him singularly interesting,” Pamela an- 
nounced, sitting up in her chair. 

“ I dare say you do,” Lutchester replied. 
“ Women are always bad judges of our sex. All the 
same, you are not going to marry him.” 

“How do you know he wants to marry me?” 
Pamela demanded. 

“ Instinct ! ” 

“ And what do you mean by saying that I am not 
going to marry him? ” 

“ Because,” Lutchester announced, “ you are 
going to marry some one else.” 

Pamela rose to her feet. There was a little spot 
of colour in her cheeks. 

“ Am I indeed ! ” she exclaimed. “ And whom, 
pray? ” 

“ That I will tell you at Washington,” Lutchester 
promised. 


237 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

“You know his name, then?” 

“ I know him intimately,” was the cool reply. 
“ What about our dinner to-night? ” 

“We are going to dine with Mr. Fischer,” Pamela 
decided. 

“ I really don’t think so,” Lutchester objected. 
“For one thing, Mr. Fischer will probably have to 
attend the police court again later on.” 

“ What about? ” 

“ For having hired a famous murderer to try and 
get rid of me,” Lutchester explained suavely. 

“Do you really believe that?” Pamela scoffed. 
“Why should he want to get rid of you? What 
harm can you do him? ” 

I am trying to find out,” Lutchester replied 
grimly. “ Still, since you ask the question, the 
pocketbook which is on its way to Germany, and 
which I picked up when Nikasti was taken ill — ” 

“ Oh, yes, I know about that ! ” Pamela inter- 
rupted. “ That is the one thing that always sets me 
thinking about you. What did you do it for? How 
did you know what it meant to me? ” 

“ Divination, I imagine,” Lutchester answered, 
“ or perhaps I was thinking what it might mean to 
Mr. Fischer.” 

She looked at him and her face was a study in 
mixed expressions. Her forehead was a little 
knitted, her eyes almost strained in their desire to 
read him; her lips were petulant. 

“ Dear me, what a puzzle you are ! ” she exclaimed. 
“ All the same, I am going to wait for Mr. Fischer. 
It doesn’t matter whether one dines or sups. I sup- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


238 

pose he will get away from the police court some- 
time or other.” 

‘‘ But anyway,” he protested, you’ve heard all 
that Mr. Fischer has to say. Now I, on the other 
hand, haven’t shown you my hand yet.” 

“Heard all that Mr. Fischer has to say?” she 
repeated. 

“Certainly! Wasn’t he here for several hours 
with you this afternoon? Didn’t he promise you an 
alliance with Germany against Japan, if you could 
persuade certain people at Washington to change 
their tone and attitude towards the export of muni- 
tions ? ” 

“ This,” she declared, trying to keep a certain 
agitation from her tone, “ is mere bluff.” 

Lutchester was suddenly very serious indeed. 

“ Listen,” he said, “ I can prove to you, if you will, 
that it is not bluff. I can prove to you that I really 
know something of what I am talking about.” 

“ There is nothing I should like better,” she 
declared. 

“ To begin with then,” Lutchester said, “ the 
pocketbook which Nikasti is supposed to have stolen 
from your room, the pocketbook of young Sandy 
Graham, which Mr. Fischer has sent to Germany, 
does not contain the formula of the new explosive, or 
any other formula that amounts to anything.” 

“ Just how do you know that? ” she demanded. 

“ To continue,” Lutchester said, playing with a 
little ornament upon the mantelpiece, “ you have an 
appointment — within half an hour, I believe — with 
Mr. Paul Haskall, who is a specialist in explosives, 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


239 

having an official position with the American 
Government.” 

She had ceased to struggle any longer with her 
surprise. She looked at him fixedly but remained 
silent. 

“ It is your belief,” he proceeded, ‘‘ that you are 
going to hand over to him the formula of which we 
were speaking.” 

‘‘ It is no belief,” she replied. It is certainty. 
I took it myself from Graham’s pocket.” 

Lutchester nodded. 

“ Good! Have you opened it? ” 

I have,” she declared. ‘‘ It is without doubt, the 
formula.” 

“ On the other hand, I am here to assure you that 
it is not,” Lutchester replied. 

Her hand was tearing at the cushion by her side. 
She moistened her lips. There was something about 
Lutchester hatefully convincing. 

“ What do you mean? ” she demanded. Is this 
a trick. You won’t get it! No one but Mr. 
Haskall will get that formula from me ! ” 

Lutchester smiled. 

“ It will only puzzle him when he gets it ! To tell 
you the truth, the formula is rubbish.” 

“ I don’t believe you,” she said firmly. ‘‘ If you 
think you are going to interfere with my handing it 
over to him, you are mistaken.” 

“ I have no wish to do anything of the sort,” Lut- 
chester assured her. “ Make a bargain with me. 
Mr. Haskall will be here soon. Unfasten the little 
package you are carrying somewhere about your 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


240 

person, hand him the envelope and watch his face. 
If he tells you that what you have offered him is a 
coherent and possible formula for an explosive, then 
you can look upon me for ever afterwards as the 
poor, foolish person you sometimes seem to consider 
me. If, on the other hand, he tells you that it is 
rubbish, I shall expect you at the Ritz-Carlton at 
half-past eight.” 

There was a ring at the bell. She rose to her feet. 

“ I accept,” she declared. “ That is Mr. Haskall. 
And, by the bye, Mr. Lutchester, don’t order too 
elaborate a dinner, for I am very much afraid you 
will have to eat it all yourself. Now, au revoir,” 
she added, as the door was opened in obedience to 
her summons and a servant stood prepared to show 
him out. “ If we don’t turn up to-night, you will 
know the reason.” 

‘‘ I am very hopeful,” Lutchester replied, as he 
turned away. 


CHAPTER XXIX 


At five-and-twenty minutes past eight that evening 
Lutchester, who was waiting in the entrance hall of 
the Ritz-Carlton, became just a little restless. At 
half-past, his absorption in an evening paper, over 
the top of which he looked at every newcomer, was 
almost farcical. At five-and-twenty to nine Pamela 
arrived. He advanced down the lounge to meet her. 
Her face was inscrutable, her smile conventional. 
Yet she had come ! He looked over his shoulder to- 
wards the men’s coat room. 

« Your brother? ” 

I sent Jim to his club,” she said. I want to 
have a confidential talk with you, Mr. Lutchester.” 

“ I am very flattered,” he told her, with real ear- 
nestness. 

She vanished for a few moments in the cloakroom, 
and reappeared, a radiant vision in deep blue silk. 
Her hair was gathered in a coil at the top of her 
head, and surmounted with an ornament of pearls. 

“ You are looking at my headdress,” she remarked, 
as they walked into the room. It is the style you 
admire, is it not ? ” 

He murmured something vague, but he knew that 
he was forgiven. They were ushered to their places 
by a portly maitre d’hotel, and she approved of his 


242 THE PAWNS COUNT 

table. It was set almost in an alcove, and was par- 
tially hidden from the other diners. 

“ Is this seclusion vanity or flattery ? ” 

As a matter of fact, it is rather a popular table,” 
he told her. “We have an excellent view of the 
room, and yet one can talk here without being dis- 
turbed.” 

“ To talk to you is exactly what I wish to do,” she 
said, as they took their places. “We commence, if 
you please, with a question. Mr. Fischer thought 
that he had that formula and he hasn’t. I could 
have sworn that it was in my possession — and it 
isn’t. Where is it ? ” 

“ I took it to the War Office before I left Eng- 
land,” he told her simply. “ They will have the first 
few tons' of the stuff ready next month.” 

“ You ! ” she cried. “ But where did 3^ou get it? ” 

“ I happened to be first, that’s all,” he explained. 
“You see, I had the advantage of a little inside in- 
formation. I could have exposed the whole affair if 
I had thought it wise. I preferred, however, to let 
matters take their course. Young Graham deserved 
all he got there, and I made sure of being the first to 
go through his papers. I’m afraid I must confess 
that I left a bogus formula for you.” 

“ I had begun to suspect this,” Pamela confessed. 
“ You don’t mind being put into the witness box, do 
you? ” she added, as she pushed aside the menu with 
a little sigh of satisfaction. “ How wonderfully you 
order an American dinner ! ” 

“ I am so glad I have chosen what you like,” he 
said, “ and as to being in the witness box — well, I 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


243 

am going to place mjself in the confessional, and 
that is very much the same thing, isn’t it? ” 

“ To begin at the beginning, then — about that 
destroyer? ” 

“ My mission over here was really important,” he 
admitted. “ I couldn’t catch the Lapland^ so the 
Admiralty sent me over.” 

“ And your golf with Senator Hamblin ? It 
wasn’t altogether by accident you met him down at 
Baltusrol, was it?” 

‘‘ It was not,” he confessed. “ I had reason to sus- 
pect that certain proposals from Berlin were to be 
put forward to the President either through his or 
Senator Hastings’ mediation. There were certain 
facts in connection with them, which I desired to be 
the first to lay before the authorities.” 

She looked around the room and recognised some 
of her friends. For some reason or other she felt 
remarkably light-hearted. 

‘‘ For a poor vanquished woman,” she observed, 
turning back to Lutchester, “ I feel extraordinarily 
gay to-night. Tell me some more.” 

He bowed. 

‘‘ Mademoiselle Sonia,” he proceeded, “ has been a 
friend of mine since she sang in the cafes of Buda 
Pesth. I dined with her, however, because it had 
come to my knowledge that she was behaving in a 
very foolish manner.” 

Pamela nodded understandingly. 

“ She was the friend of Count Maurice Ziduski, 
wasn’t she? ” 

“ She is no longer,” Lutchester replied. “ She 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


244 

sailed for France this morning without seeing him* 
She has remembered that she is a Frenchwoman.” 

“ It was you who reminded her ! ” 

“ Love so easily makes people forgetful,” he said, 
and I think that Sonia was very fond of Maurice 
Ziduski, She is a thoughtless, passionate woman, 
easily swayed through her affections, and she had no 
idea of the evil she was doing.” 

‘‘ So that disposes of Sonia,” Pamela reflected. 

“ Sonia was only an interlude,” Lutchester de- 
clared. ‘‘ She really doesn’t come into this affair at 
all. The one person who does come into it, whom 
you and I must speak of, is Fischer.” 

‘‘ A most interesting man,” Pamela sighed. I 
really think his wife would have a most exciting life.” 

‘‘ She would ! ” Lutchester agreed. She’d prob- 
ably be allowed to visit him once every fourteen days 
in care of a warder.” 

“ Spite ! ” Pamela exclaimed, with a suspicious lit- 
tle quiver at the corner of her lips. 

Lutchester shook his head. 

“ Fischer is too near the end of his rope for me to 
feel spiteful,” he said, ‘‘ though I am quite prepared 
to grant that he may be capable of considerable 
mischief yet. A man who has the sublime effrontery 
to attempt to come to an agreement with two coun- 
tries, each behind the other’s back, is a little more 
than Machiavellian, isn’t he ? ” 

“ Is that true of Mr. Fischer? ” 

“ Absolutely,” Lutchester assured her. “ He is 
over here for the purpose of somehow or other mak- 
ing it known informally in Washington that Ger- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 245 

many would be willing to pledge herself to an alliance 
with America against Japan, after the war, if Amer- 
ica will alter her views as to the export of muni- 
tions to the Allies.” 

‘‘Well, that’s a reasonable proposition, isn’t it, * 
from his point of view?” Pamela remarked. “It 
may not be a very agreeable one from yours, but it 
is certainly one which he has a right to make.” 

“ Entirely,” Lutchester agreed, “ but where he 
goes wrong is that his primary object in coming here 
was to meet the chief of the Japanese Secret Service, 
to whom he has made a proposition of precisely 
similar character.” 

Pamela set down her glass. 

“You are not in earnest!” 

“ Absolutely.” 

“ Nikasti? ” 

“ Precisely! He came all the way from Japan to 
confer with Fischer. Probably, if we knew the 
whole truth, those rooms at the Plaza Hotel, and 
the social partnership of your brother and Fischer, 
were arranged for no other reason than to provide a 
safe personality for Nikasti in this country, and a 
safe place for him to talk things over with Fischer.” 

“ ;Mr. Fischer was paying nearly the whole of the 
expenses of the Plaza suite,” Pamela observed 
thoughtfully. 

“Naturally,” Lutchester replied. “Your broth- 
er’s name was a good, safe name to get behind. But 
to conclude with our friend Nikasti. He is supposed 
to leave New York next Saturday, and to carry to 
the Emperor of Japan an autograph letter from a 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


246 

nameless person, promising him, if Japan will cease 
the export of munitions to Russia, the aid of Ger- 
many in her impending campaign against Amer- 
ica.” 

“An autograph letter, did you ssiy? ” Pamela al- 
most gasped. 

“ An autograph letter,” Lutchester repeated 
firmly. “ Now don’t you agree with me that Fisch- 
er’s game is just a little too daring.^ ” 

“ It is preposterous 1 ” she cried. 

“ I have a theory,” Lutchester continued, “ that 
Fischer was never intended to use more than one of 
these letters. It was intended that he should study 
the situation here, approach one side, and, if unsuc- 
cessful, try the other. Fischer, however, conceived 
a more magnificent idea. He seems to be trying both 
at the same time. It is the sublime egotism of the 
Teutonic mind.” 

“ It is monstrous ! ” Pamela exclaimed indignantly. 

“ It is almost as monstrous,” Lutchester agreed, 
“ as his daring to raise his eyes to you, although, 
so far as you are concerned, I believe that he is as 
honest as the man knows how to be.” 

“ And why,” she asked, “ do you credit him with 
so much good faith ” 

“ Because,” Lutchester replied, “ if he had not 
been actuated by personal motives, he would never 
have sought you out as an intermediary. There are 
other sources open to him, by means of which he could 
make equally sure of reaching the President’s ear. 
His idea was to impress you. It was foolish but 
natural.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


247 

Pamela was deep in thought. There was an angry 
spot of colour burning in her cheek. 

“ Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Lutchester,” she 
persisted, ‘‘ that this afternoon, say, when with 
every appearance of earnestness he was begging me 
to put these propositions before my uncle, he 
had really made precisely similar overtures to 
Japan ” 

‘‘ I give you my word that this is the truth,” Lut- 
chester assured her solemnly. 

She looked at him with something almost like won- 
der in her eyes. 

‘‘ But you? ” she exclaimed. “ How do you know 
this? How can you be sure of it? ” 

“ I have seen the autograph letter which Nikasti 
has in his possession,” he announced. 

You mean that Mr. Fischer showed it to you? ” 
she exclaimed incredulously. 

Lutchester hesitated. 

There are methods,” he said, “ which those who 
fight in the dark places for their country are forced 
sometimes to make use of. I have seen the letter. I 
have half convinced those who represent Japan in 
this matter of Fischer’s duplicity. With your help I 
am hoping wholly to do so.” 

Pamela leaned for a moment back in her chair. 

“ Really,” she declared, “ I am beginning to have 
the feeling that I am living almost too rapidly. Let 
us have a breathing spell. I wonder what all these 
other people are talking about.” 

“ Probably,” he suggested, with a little glance 
around, “ about themselves. We will follow their 


248 THE PAWNS COUNT 

example. Will jou marry me, please, Miss Van 
Teyl? ” 

‘‘We haven’t even come to the ice yet,” she sighed, 
“ and you pass from high politics to flagrant person- 
alities. Are you a sensationalist, Mr. Lutches- 
ter ? ” 

“ Not in the least,” he protested. “ I simply asked 
you an extremely important question quite calmly.” 

“ It isn’t a question that should be asked calmly,” 
she objected. 

“ I have immense self-control,” he told her, “ but 
if you’d like me to abandon it — ” 

“ For heaven’s sake, no ! ” she interrupted. “ Tell 
me more about Mr. Fischer.” 

“ You won’t forget to answer my little question 
later on, will you? ” he begged. “ To proceed, then. 
I spent some little time this afternoon with your 
chief of the police here, and I fancy that the person 
you speak of is becoming a little too blatant even for 
a broad-minded country like this. He belongs to an 
informal company of wealthy sympathisers with Ger- 
many, who propose to start a campaign of destruc- 
tion at all the factories manufacturing munitions for 
the Allies. They have put aside — I believe it is 
several million dollars, for purposes of bribery. 
They don’t seem to realise, as my friend pointed out 
to me this afternoon, that the days for this sort of 
thing in New York have passed. Some of them will 
be in prison before they know where they are.” 

“ Exactly why did you come to America ? ” she 
asked, a little abruptly. 

“ To meet Nikasti and to look after Fischer.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


249 

Well, you seem to have done that pretty effectu- 
ally ! ” 

“ Also,” he went on calmly, “ to keep an eye upon 
you.” 

“ Professionally? ” 

“ You ask me to give away too many secrets,” he 
whispered, leaning towards her. 

She made a little grimace. 

“ Tell me some more about your little adventure in 
Fifth Avenue? ” she begged. 

He smiled grimly. 

‘‘ You wouldn’t believe me,” he reminded her, “ but 
it really was one of Fischer’s little jokes. It very 
nearly came off, too. As a matter of fact,” he went 
on, “ Fischer isn’t really clever. He is too obstinate, 
too convinced in his own mind that things must go 
the way he wants them to, that Fate is the servant 
of his will. It’s a sort of national trait, you know, 
very much like the way we English bury our heads 
in the sand when we hear unpleasant truths. The 
last thing Fischer wants is advertisement, and yet 
he goes to some of his Fourteenth Street friends and 
unearths a popular desperado to get rid of me. The 
fellow happens most unexpectedly to fail, and now 
Fischer has to face a good many awkward questions 
and a good deal of notoriety. No, I don’t think 
Fischer is really clever.” 

Pamela sighed. 

‘‘ In that case, I suppose I shall have to say ‘ No ’ 
to him,” she decided. ‘‘ After waiting all this time, 
I couldn’t bear to be married to a fool.” 

You won’t be,” he assured her cheerfully. 


250 


THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ More British arrogance,” she murmured. “ Now 
see what’s going to happen to us ! ” 

A tall, elderly man, with smooth white hair plas- 
tered over his forehead, very precisely dressed, and 
with a gait so careful as to be almost mincing, was 
approaching their table. Pamela held out her 
hands. 

“ My dear uncle ! ” she exclaimed, “ And I 
thought that you and aunt never dined at restau- 
rants 1 ” 

Mr. Hastings stood with his fingers resting lightly 
upon the table. He glanced at Luchester without 
apparent recognition. 

“You remember Mr. Lutchester?” Pamela mur- 
mured. 

Mr. Hastings’ manner lacked the true American 
cordiality, but he hastened to extend his hand. 

“ Of course ! ” he declared. “ I was not fortunate 
enough, however, to see much of you the other eve- 
ning, Mr. Lutchester. We have several mutual 
friends whom I should be glad to hear about.” 

“ I shall pay my respects to Mrs. Hastings, if I 
may, very shortly,” Lutchester promised. 

“Are you with friends here, uncle Pamela in- 
quired. 

“ We are the guests of Mr. Oscar Fischer,” the 
Senator announced. 

Pamela raised her eyebrows. 

“ So you know Mr. Fischer, uncle? ” 

“ Naturally,” Mr. Hastings replied, with some 
dignity. “ Oscar Fischer is one of the most impor- 
tant men in the State which I represent. He is a 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


251 

man of great wealth and industry and immense in- 
fluence.” 

Pamela made a little grimace. Her uncle noticed 
it and frowned. 

“ He has just been telling us of his voyage with 
you, Pamela. Perhaps, if Mr. Lutchester can spare 
you,” he went on, with a little bow across the table, 
“ you will come and take your coffee with us. Your 
aunt is leaving for Washington, probably to-morrow, 
and wishes to arrange for you to travel with her. 
Mr. Lutchester may also, perhaps, give us the pleas- 
ure of his company for a few minutes,” he added, 
after a slight but obvious pause. 

‘‘ Thank you,” Pamela answered quickly, “ I am 
Mr. Lutchester’s guest this evening. If you are still 
here, I shall love to come and speak to aunt for a 
moment later on. If not, I will ring up to-morrow 
morning.” 

The bland, almost episcopal serenity of Senator 
Hastings’ face was somewhat disturbed. It was ob- 
vious that the situation displeased him. 

“ I think, Pamela,” he said, “ that you had better 
come and speak to your aunt before you leave.” 

His bow to Lutchester was the bow of a poli- 
tician to an adversary. He made his way back in 
leisurely fashion to the table from which he had 
come, exchanging a few words with many acquaint- 
ances. Pamela watched him with a twinkle in her 
eyes. 

“ I am becoming so unpopular,” she murmured. 
“ I can read in my uncle’s tone that my aunt and he 
disapprove of our dining together here. And as for 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


252 

Mr. Fischer, I’m afraid he’ll break off our prospec- 
tive alliance.” 

Lutchester smiled. 

“ Prospective is the only word to use,” he ob- 
served. “ By the bye, are you particularly fond of 
your uncle ” 

“ Not riotously,” she admitted. “ He has been 
kind to me once or twice, but he’s rather a starchy 
old person.” 

“ In that case,” Lutchester decided, “ we won’t in- 
terfere.” 


CHAPTER XXX 


Fischer had by no means the appearance of a 
discomfited man that evening, when some time later 
Pamela and Lutchester approached the little group 
of which he seemed, somehow, to have become the 
central figure. It was a small party, but, in its way, 
a distinguished one. Pamela’s aunt was a member 
of an historic American family, and a woman of 
great social position, not only in New York but in 
Washington itself. Of the remaining guests, one 
was a financial magnate of world-wide fame, and the 
other, Senator Joyce, a politician of such eminence 
that his name was freely mentioned as a possible 
future president. Mrs. Hastings greeted Pamela 
and her escort without enthusiasm. 

“ My dear child,” she exclaimed, “ how extraordi- 
nary to find you here ! ” 

“Is it.?” Pamela observed indifferently. “You 
know Mr. Lutchester, don’t you, aunt.?” 

Mrs. Hastings remembered her late dinner guest, 
but her recognition was icy and barely polite. She 
turned away at once and resumed her conversation 
with Fischer. Lutchester was not introduced to 
either of the other members of the party. He laid 
his hand on the back of an empty chair and turned 
it round for Pamela, but she stopped him with a 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


254 

word of thanks. Something had gone from her own 
naturally pleasant tone. She held her hand higher, 
even, than her aunt’s, as she turned a little insistently 
towards her. 

‘‘ So sorry, aunt,” she announced, “ but we are go- 
ing now. Good night ! ” 

Mrs. Hastings disapproved. 

“ We have seen nothing of you yet, Pamela,” she 
said stiffly. “ You had better stay with us and we 
will drop you on our way home.” 

Pamela shook her head. 

“ I am coming with you to-morrow, you know,” 
she reminded her aunt. “ To-night I am Mr. Lut- 
chester’s guest and he will see me home.” 

Mrs. blastings drew her niece a little closer to her. 

“ Is this part of your European manners, 
Pamela.? ” she whispered, “ that you dine alone in a 
resturant with an acquaintance.? Let me tell you 
frankly that I dislike the idea most heartily. My 
chaperonage is always at your service, and any girl 
of your age in America would be delighted to avail 
herself of it.” 

“ It is very kind of you, aunt,” Pamela replied, 
“ but in a general way I finished with chaperons long 
ago.” 

‘‘ WTiere is Jimmy?” Mrs. Hastings inquired. 

He was coming with qs to-night,” Pamela ex- 
plained, “ but I asked him particularly to stay away. 
I have seen so little of Mr. Lutchester since he ar- 
rived, and I want to talk to him.” 

The financial magnate awoke from a comatose in- 
ertia and suddenly gripped Lutchester by the hand. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


255 

“ Lutchester,” he repeated to himself. “ I 
thought I knew your face. Stayed with your uncle 
down at Monte Carlo once. You came there for a 
week.” 

Lutchester acknowledged his recollection of the 
fact and the two men exchanged a few common- 
place remarks. Mrs. Hastings took the opportunity 
to try and induce Pamela to converse with Fischer. 

“We have all been so interested to-night,” she 
said, “ in hearing what Mr. Fischer has to say about 
the situation on the other side.” 

Pamela was primed for combat. 

“ Has Mr. Fischer been telling you fairy tales ” 
she laughed. 

“Fairy tales her aunt repeated severely. “I 
don’t understand.” 

Fischer’s steel grey eyes flashed behind his spec- 
tacles. 

“ I’m afraid that Miss Van Teyl’s prejudices,” he 
observed bitterly, “ are very firmly fixed.” 

“ Then she is no true American,” Mrs. Hastingsi 
pronounced didactically. 

“ Oh, I can assure you that I am not prejudiced,” 
Pamela declared, “ only, you see, I, too, have just 
arrived from the other side, and I have been able to 
use my own eyes and judgment. If there is any 
prejudice in the matter, why should it not come 
from Mr. Fischer He has the very good excuse of 
his German birth.” 

“ Mr. Fischer is an American citizen,” Mrs.. 
Hastings reminded her niece, “ and personally, I 
think that the American of German birth is one of 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


256 

the most loyal and long-suffering persons I know. 
I cannot say as much for the English people who are 
living over here. And as to fairy stories — ” 

Pamela intervened, turning towards Fischer with 
a little laugh. 

“ Oh, he can’t even deny those ! What about the 
great German victory in the North Sea, Mr. 
Fischer? Do you happen to have seen the latest 
telegrams ? ” 

“ Our first reports were perhaps a little too glow- 
ing,” Mr. Fischer acknowledged. “ That, under the 
circumstances, is, I think, only natural. But the 
facts remain that the invincible English and the un- 
tried German fleets have met, to the advantage of 
the German.” 

Pamela shook her head. 

I cannot even allow that,” she objected. The 
advantage, if there was any, rested on the other 
side. But I just want you to remember what we 
were told in that first wonderful outpouring of fabri- 
cated news — that the naval supremacy of England 
was gone for ever, that the freedom of the seas was 
assured, that German merchant vessels were steam- 
ing home from all directions! No, Mr. Fischer! 
Between ourselves, I think that your cause needs a 
few fairy stories, and I look upon you as one of the 
greatest experts in the world when it comes to con- 
cocting them.” 

Fischer, who had risen to his feet half way through 
Pamela’s speech, was obviously a little taken aback 
by her direct attack. Mrs. Hastings took no pains 
to conceal her annoyance. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


257 

“ For a young girl of your age, Pamela,” she said 
sternly, “ I consider that you express your opinions 
far too freely. Your attitude, too, is unjustifiable.” 

“ Ah, well, you see, I am a little prejudiced against 
Mr. Fischer,” Pamela laughed, turning towards him. 
“ He happened to defeat one of my pet schemes.” 

“ But I am ready to further your dearest one,” he 
reminded her, dropping his voice, and leading her 
a little on one side. “ What about our alliance.^ ” 

“ You scarcely need my aid,” she observed, with a 
shrug of the shoulders. 

He remonstrated vigorously. There was a revived 
hopefulness in his tone. Perhaps, after all, here 
was the secret of her displeasure with him. 

“ You wonder, perhaps, to see me with your uncle. 
I give you my word that it is a dinner of courtesy 
only. I give you my word that I have not opened 
my lips on political maUers. I have been waiting 
for your answer.” 

“ I have lost faith in you,” she told him calmly. 
‘‘ I am not even certain that you possess the author- 
ity you spoke of.” 

If that is all,” he replied eagerly, “ you shall see 
it with your own eyes. You are staying with your 
uncle and aunt in Washington, are you not.^ I 
shall call upon you immediately I arrive, and bring 
it with me.” 

She nodded. 

‘‘ Well, that remains a challenge, then, Mr. 
Fischer. And now, if you are quite ready,” she 
added, turning to Lutchester. . • • Good-by, 
everybody ! ” 


^58 THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ Aren’t your ears burning? ” Pamela asked, after 
Lutchester had handed her into a taxicab and taken 
his place by her side. ‘‘ I can absolutely feel them 
talking about us.” 

“ I seem to be most regrettably unpopular,” Lut- 
chester remarked. 

“ Even now I am puzzled about that,” Pamela con- 
fessed, “ but you see my aunt considers herself the 
arbitress of what is right or wrong in social matters, 
^nd she is exceedingly narrow-minded. In her eyes 
it is no doubt a greater misdemeanour for me to 
have dined at the Ritz-Carlton alone with you, than 
if I had conspired against the Government.” 

And this, I thought, was the land of freedom for 
your sex 1 ” 

“ Ah, but my aunt is rather an exception,” 
Pamela reminded him. ‘‘ The one thing I cannot un- 
derstand, however, is that she should have allowed 
herself to be seen dining with Mr. Oscar Fischer at 
the Ritz-Carlton. I should have thought that would 
have been almost as heinous to her as my own little 
slip from grace.” 

“ Is your aunt by way of being interested in 
politics ? ” Lutchester inquired. 

‘‘ Not in a general way,” Pamela replied, “ but she 
is intensely ambitious, and she’d give her soul if 
Uncle Theodore could get a nomination for the 
Presidency.” 

Perhaps she is taking up the German- American 
cause, then,” Lutchester suggested. “ It is a pos- 
sible platform, at any rate.” 

. ‘‘ I foresee a new party,” Pamela murmured 


THE PAWNS COUNT 259 

thoughtfully. “Now I come to think of it, Mr. 
Els worthy, the fat old gentleman who knew your 
uncle, is very pro-German.” 

He leaned towards her. 

“ We have had enough politics,” he insisted. 
“ There is the other thing. Couldn’t I have my an- 
swer? ” 

She let him take her fingers. In the cool darkness 
through which they were rushing her face seemed 
white, her head was a little averted. He tried to 
draw her to him, but she was unyielding. 

“ Please not,” she begged. “ I like you — and I’m 
glad I like you,” she added, “ but I don’t feel cer- 
tain about anything. Couldn’t we be just friends 
a little longer? ” 

“ It must be as you say, but I am horribly in love 
with you,” he confessed. “ That may sound rather 
a bald way of saying so, but it’s the truth, Pamela, 
dear.” 

His clasp upon her fingers was tightened. She 
turned towards him. Her expression was serious but 
delightful. 

“ Well, let me tell you this much, at least,” she 
confided. “ I have never before in my life been so 
glad to hear any one say so. . . . And here we are 
at home, and there’s Jimmy on the doorstep. What 
is it, Jimmy,” she asked, waving her hand. 

He came down towards her in a state of great ex- 
citement. 

“ Say, we’ve had to open up the office again ! ” he 
exclaimed. “ The .telegrams are rolling in now. 
That so-called German naval victory was a fake. 


26 o 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


The Britishers came out right on top. You know 
you stand to net at least half a million, Mr. Lut- 
chester? The worst of it is I have another client 
who’s going to lose it.” 

Pamela shook her head at Lutchester. 

The possibility of increased responsibilities,” he 
whispered. “ A married man needs something to 
fall back upon.” 


CHAPTER XXXI 


The offices of Messrs. Neville, Brooks, and Van 
Teyl were the scene of something like pandemonium. 
Van Teyl himself, bathed in perspiration, rushed 
into his room for the twentieth time. He almost 
flung the newspaper man who was waiting for him 
through the door. 

‘‘ No, we don’t know a darned thing,” he declared. 

We’ve no special information. The only reason 
we’re up to our neck in Anglo-French is because 
we’ve two big clients dealing.” 

It’s just a few personal notes about those clients 
we’d like to handle.” 

“ Oh, get out as quick as you can ! ” Van Teyl 
snapped. This isn’t a bucket shop or a pool room. 
The names of our clients concerns ourselves only.” 

“ What do you think Anglo-French are going to* 
do, Mr. Van Teyl.? ” 

“ I can’t tell,” was the prompt answer, “ but I can 
tell what’s going to happen if you don’t clear out.” 

The newspaper man took a hurried leave. Van 
Teyl seized the telephone receiver, only to put it 
down with a little shout of relief as the door opened! 
and Lutchester entered. 

‘‘ Thank God ! ” he exclaimed. “ Why, I’ve beem 
ringing you up for an hour and a half.” 


262 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


Sorry,” Lutchester replied, “ I was down at the 
barber’s the first time you got through, and then I 
had some cables to send off.” 

“ Look here,” Van Teyl continued, gripping him 
by the shoulder, “ is six hundred and forty thousand 
dollars, or thereabouts, profit enough for you on 
your Anglo-French? ” 

“ It sounds adequate,” Lutchester confessed, lay- 
ing his hat and cane carefully upon the table and 
drawing up an easy-chair. “ How much is Mr. 
Fischer going to lose? ” 

“ God knows ! If you allow me to sell at the 
present moment, you’ll ease the market, and he’ll lose 
about what you make.” 

“ And if I decide to hold my Anglo-French? ” 

“ You’ll have to provide us with about a couple 
of million dollars,” Van Teyl replied, and I should 
think you would pretty well break Fischer for a time. 
Frankly, he’s an important client, and we don’t want 
him broken, even temporarily.” 

“ What do you want me to do, then ? ” 

‘‘Give us authority to sell,” Van Teyl begged. 
“ Can’t you hear them yapping about in the office 
outside? They’re round me all the time like a pack 
of hounds. Honestly, if I don’t sell some Anglo- 
French before lunch-time to-day, they look like 
wrecking the office.” 

Lutchester knocked the end of a cigarette thought- 
fully against the side of his chair. 

“ All right,” he decided, “ I don’t want you to 
suffer any inconvenience. Besides, I am going to 
Washington this afternoon. You can keep on sell- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 263 

ing as long as the market’s steady. Directly it 
sags, hold off. If necessary, even buy a few more. 
Yon understand me? Don’t sell a single block un- 
der to-day’s price. Keep the market at that figure. 
It’s an easy job, because next week Anglo-French 
will go up again.” 

Van Teyl was moved to a rare flash of admira- 
tion. 

“ You’re a cool hand, Dutches ter,” he declamed’y 

considering you’re not a business man.” 

‘‘ Fischer’s the man who’ll need to keep cool,” 
Lutchester remarked, lighting his cigarette. “ What 
about a little lunch? ” 

The stockbroker scarcely heard him. He had 
struck a bell, and the office seemed suddenly filled 
with clerks. Van Teyl’s words were incoherent — 
a string of strange directions, punctuated by slang 
which was, so far as Lutchester was concerned, un- 
intelligible. The whole place seemed to wake into a 
clamour of telephone bells, shouts, the clanging and 
opening of the lift gates, and the hurried tramp of 
footsteps in the corridors outside. Lutchester rose 
to his feet. He was looking very comfortable and 
matter-of-fact in his grey tweed suit and soft felt 
hat. 

“ Perhaps,” he observed pleasantly, “ I am out of 
place here. Drop me a line and let me know how 
things are going to the Hotel Capitol at Washing- 
ton.” 

‘‘ That’s all right,” Van Teyl promised. • “ I’ll get 
you on the long-distance ’phone. I was coming my- 
self with Pamela for a few days, but this little deal 


1264 the pawns count 

of jours has set things buzzing. . . . Say, who’s 
that? ” 

The door opened, and Fischer paused upon the 
threshold. Certainly, of all the people concerned, 
the two speculators themselves seemed the least 
moved by the excitement they were causing. Fischer 
was dressed with his usual spick-and-span neatness, 
and his appearance betrayed no sign of flurry or 
excitement. He nodded grimly to Lutchester. 

“ My congratulations,” he said. “ You seem to 
have rigged the Press here to some purpose.” 

Lutchester raised his eyebrows. 

“ I don’t even know a newspaper man in New 
York,” he declared. 

The newcomer gave vent to a little gesture of de- 
rision. 

“ Then you’ve some very clever friends ! You’d 
better make the most of their offices. The German 
version of the naval battle will be confirmed and 
amplified within twenty-four hours, and then your 
Anglo-French will touch mud.” 

“ If that is your idea,” Lutchester remarked 
suavely, “why buy now? Why not wait till next 
week ? Come,” he went on, “ I will have a little 
flutter with you, if you like, Fischer. I will bet you 
five thousand dollars, and Van Teyl here shall hold 
the stakes, that a week hence to-day Anglo-French 
stand higher than they do at this moment.” 

Fischer hesitated. Then he turned away. 

“ I am not a sportsman, Mr. Lutchester,” he said. 

Lutchester brushed away a little dust from his 
coat sleeve. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 265 

No,” he murmured, “ I agree with you. Good 
morning ! ” 

Lutchester walked out into the sun-baked streets, 
and with his absence Fischer abandoned his almost 
unnatural calm. He strode up and down the room, 
fuming with rage. At every fresh click of the tape 
machine, he snatched at the printed slip eagerly and 
threw it away with an oath. No one took any notice 
of him. Van Teyl rushed in and out, telephones 
clanged, perspiring clerks dashed in with copies of 
contracts to add to the small pile upon the desk. 
There came a quiet moment presently. Van Teyl 
wiped the perspiration from his forehead and drank 
a tumblerful of water. 

“ Fischer,” he asked, “ what made you go into this 
so big? You must have known there was always 
the risk of your wireless report beating it up a little 
too tall.” 

‘‘ It wasn’t our report at all that I went by,” 
Fischer confessed gloomily. ‘‘ It was the English 
Admiralty announcement that did it. Can you con- 
ceive,” he went on, striking the table with his fisty 
‘‘ any nation at war, with a grain of common sense 
or an ounce of self-respect, issuing a statement like 
that? — an apology for a defeat which, damn it all, 
never happened ! Say the thing was a drawn battle, 
which is about what it really was. It didn’t suit the 
Germans to fight it to a finish. They’d everything 
to lose and little to gain. So in effect they left the 
Britishers there and passed back behind their own 
minefield. So far as regards reports, that was vic- 
tory enough for any one except those muddle-headed 


266 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


civilians at Whitehall. They deceived the world 
with that infernal bulletin, and incidentally me. It 
was on that statement I gave you my orders, not on 
ours.” 

“ It’s a damned unfortunate business! ” Van Teyl 
sighed. ‘‘ You’re only half way out yet, and it’s 
cost you nearly three hundred thousand.” 

A dull spot of purple colour burned in Fischer’s 
cheeks. His upper lip was drawn in, his appearance 
for a moment was repulsive. 

It isn’t the money I mind,” he muttered. “ It’s 
Lutchester.” 

Van Teyl was discreetly silent. Fischer seemed 
to read his thoughts. He leaned across the table. 

A wonderful fellow, your friend Lutchester,” he 
sneered. “ An Admirable Crichton of finance and 
diplomacy and love-making, eh.? But the end isn’t 
just yet. I promise you one thing, James Van Teyl. 
He isn’t going to marry your sister.” 

I’d a damned sight sooner she married him than 
you ! ” Van Teyl blazed out. 

Fischer was taken aback. He had held for so 
long the upper hand with this young man that for 
the moment he had forgotten that circumstances 
were changed between them. Van Teyl rose to his 
feet. The bonds of the last few months had snapped. 
He spoke like a free man. 

Look here, Fischer,” he said, ‘‘ you’ve had me 
practically in your power for the best part of a year, 
but now I’m through with you. I’m out of your 
debt, no thanks to you, and I’m going to keep out. 
I am working on your business as hard as though 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


267 

you were my own brother, and I’ll go on doing it. 
I’ll get you out of this mess as well as I can, and 
after that you can take your damned business where 
you please.” 

“So that’s it, is it.^ ” Fischer scoffed. “A rich 
brother-in-law coming along, eh? . . . No, don’t do 
that,” stepping quickly backwards as Van Teyl’s 
fist shot out. 

“ Then keep my sister’s name out of this conver- 
sation,” Van Teyl insisted. “ If you are wise, you’ll 
clear out altogether. They’re at it again.” 

Fischer, however, glanced at the clock and re- 
mained. At the next lull, he hung down the tape 
and turned to his companion. 

“ Say, there’s no use quarrelling, James,” he de- 
clared. “ I’m going to leave you to it now. Guess 
I said a little more than I meant to, but I tell you 
I hate that fellow Lutchester. I hate him just as 
though I were the typical German and he were the 
typical Britisher, and there was nothing but ,a sea 
of hate between us. Shake hands, Jim.” 

Van Teyl obeyed without enthusiasm. Fischer 
drew a chair to the table and wrote out a cheque, 
which he passed across. 

“ I’ll drop into the bank and let them know about 
this,” he said. “ You can make up accounts and let 
me hear how the balance stands. I’ll wipe it out 
by return, whatever it is.” 

Fischer passed out of the offices a few minutes 
later, followed by many curious eyes, and stepped 
into his automobile. A young man who had brushed 
against him pushed a note into his hand. Fischer 


268 THE PAWNS COUNT 

opened it as his car swung slowlj through the 
traffic : — 

Guards at all Connecticut factories doubled. O’Hagan 
caught last night in precincts of small arms factory. 
Was taken alive, disobeying orders. Be careful. 

Fischer tore the note into small pieces. His face 
was grimmer than ever as he leaned back amongst 
the cushions. There were evil things awaiting him 
autside Wall Street. 


CHAPTER XXXII 


Lutchester breathed the air of Washington and 
felt almost homesick. The stateliness of the city, 
its sedate and quiescent air after the turmoil of New 
York, impressed him profoundly. Everywhere its 
diplomatic associations made themselves felt. Con- 
gress was in session, and the faces of the men whom 
he met continually in the hotels and restaurants 
seemed to him some index of the world power which 
flung its far-reaching arms from beneath the Capitol 
dome. 

One afternoon a few days after his arrival he 
called at the Hastings’ house, a great Colonial man- 
sion within a stone’s throw of his own headquarters. 
The mention of his name, however, seemed to chill 
all the hospitality out of the smiling face of the 
southern butler who answered his ring. Miss Van 
Teyl was out, and from the man’s manner it was 
obvious that Miss Van Teyl would continue to be 
out for a very long time. Lutchester retraced his 
steps to the British Embassy, where he had spent 
most of the morning, and made his way to the sit- 
ting-room of one of the secretaries. The Honour- 
able Philip Downing, who was eagerly waiting for 
a cable recalling him to take up a promised commis- 
sion, welcomed him heartil}^ 

‘‘ Things are slack here to-day, old fellow. Let’s 


270 THE PAWNS COUNT 

go out to the Country Club and have a few sets of 
tennis or a game of golf, whichever you prefer,” he 
suggested. “ I’ve done my little lot till the eve- 
ning.” 

“ Show on to-night, isn’t there ? ” Lutchester in- 
quired. 

“Just a reception. You’re going to put in an 
appearance ? ” 

“ I fancy so. Have you got your list of guests 
handy ? ” 

The young man dived into a drawer and produced 
a few typewritten sheets. 

“Alphabetical list of acceptances, with here and 
there a few personal notes,” he pointed out, with an 
air of self-satisfaction. “ I go through this list with 
the chief while he’s changing for dinner.” 

Lutchester ran his forefinger down the list. 

Senator Theodore and Mrs. Hastings,” he 
quoted. “ By the bye, they have a niece staying with 
them.” 

“ Want a card for her? ” the Honourable Philip 
inquired with a grin. 

“ I should like it sent off this moment,” Lutchester 
replied. 

The young man took a square, gilt-edged card 
from a drawer by his side, filled it out at Lutchester’s 
dictation, rang the bell, and dispatched it by special 
messenger. 

“ I’ve got my little buzzer outside,” he observed. 
“ We’ll make tracks for the club, if you’re ready.” 

The two men played several sets of tennis and 
afterwards lounged in two wicker chairs, under- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


271 

neath a gigantic plane tree in a corner of the lawn. 
The place was crowded, and Philip Downing was 
an excellent showman. 

‘‘Washington,” he explained, “has never been so 
divided into opposite camps, and this is almost the 
only common meeting ground. Every one has to 
come here, of course. The German Staff play tennis 
and the Austrians all go in for polo. Here comes 
Ziduski. He’s most fearfully popular with the 
ladies here — does us a lot of harm, they say. He’s 
a great sticker for etiquette. He used to nod and 
call me Phil. Now you watch. He’ll bow from his 
waist, as though he had corsets on. As a matter of 
fact, he’s a good sportsman.” 

Count Ziduski’s bow was stiff enough but his 
intention was obvious. He stopped before the two 
men, exchanged a somewhat stilted greeting with 
Philip Downing, and turned to Lutchester. 

“ I believe,” he said, “ that I have the honour of 
addressing Mr. Lutchester.? ” 

Lutchester rose to his feet. 

“ That is my name,” he admitted. 

“ We have met in Rome, I think, and in Paris,” 
the Count reminded him. “ If I might beg for the 
favour of a few moments’ conversation with you.” 

The two men strolled away together. The Count 
plunged at once into the middle of things. 

“ It is you, sir, I believe, whom I have to thank 
for the abrupt departure of Mademoiselle Sonia from 
New York.? ” 

“ Quite true,” Lutchester admitted. 

“ Under different circumstances,” the Count pro- 


272 THE PAWNS COUNT 

ceeded, “ I might regard such interference in my 
affairs in a different manner. Here, of course, that 
is impossible. I speak to you out of regard for the 
lady in question. You appear in some mysterious 
manner to have discovered the fact that she was in 
the habit of bringing entirely unimportant and non- 
political messages from dear friends in France.” 

“ Mademoiselle Sonia,” Lutchester said calmly, 
“ had for a brief space of time forgotten herself. 
She was engaged in carrying out espionage work on 
your behalf. I believe I may say that she will do 
so no more.” 

The Count was a man of medium height, thin, 
with complexion absolutely colourless, and deep- 
set, tired eyes. At this moment, however, he seemed 
endowed with the spirit of a new virility. The cane 
which he grasped might have been a dagger. His 
smooth tones nursed a threat. 

‘‘ Mr. Lutchester,” he declared, if harm should 
come to her through your information, I swear to 
God that you shall pay ! ” 

Lutchester’s manner was mild and unprovocative. 

“ Count,” he replied, “ we make no war upon 
women. Sonia has repented, and the knowledge 
which I have of her misdeeds will be shared by no 
one. She has gone back to her country to work for 
the Red Cross there. So far as I am concerned, 
that is the end.” 

The two men walked a few steps further in un- 
broken silence. Then the Count raised his hat. 

Mr. Lutchester,” he said, “ yours is the reply of 
an honourable enemy. I might have trusted you. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


273 

but Sonia is half of mj life. I offer you my thanks.” 

He strolled away, and Lutchester rejoined his 
young friend. 

“ The lion and the lamb seem to have parted 
safely ! ” the latter exclaimed. “ Now sit by my 
side and I will show you interesting things. Those 
four irreproachable young men over there in tennis 
flannels are all from the German Embassy. The 
two elder ones behind are Austrians. All those 
women are the wives of Senators who sympathise 
with Germany. Their husbands look like it, don’t 
they.f^ To-day they have an addition to their ranks 
— the thin, elderly man there, whose clothes were 
evidently made in London. That’s Senator Hast- 
ings. He is a personal friend of the President. 
Jove, what a beautiful girl with Mrs. Hastings ! ” 
That,” Lutchester told him, “ is the young lady 
to whom you have just sent a card of invitation for 
to-night.” 

Then here’s hoping that she comes,” Philip 
Downing observed, finishing his glass of mint julep. 
‘‘ Is she a pal of yours ? ” 

“ Yes, I know her,” Lutchester admitted. 

‘‘ Let’s go and butt in, then,” Downing suggested. 
‘‘ I love breaking up these little gatherings. You’ll 
see them all stiffen when we come near. I hope they 
haven’t got hold of Hastings, though.” 

The two men rose to their feet and crossed the 
lawn. Fischer, who had suddenly appeared in the 
background, whispered something in Mrs. Hastings’ 
ear. She swung around to Pamela, a second too 
late. Pamela, with a word of excuse to the young 


274 the pawns count 

man with whom she was talking^ stepped away from 
the circle and held out her hand to Lutchester. 

“So you hAve really come to Washington!” she 
exclaimed. 

“ As a rescuer,” Lutchester replied. “ I feel that 
I have a mission. We cannot afford to lose your 
sympathies. May I introduce Philip Downing? ” 

Pamela shook hands with the young man and took 
her place between them. 

“ I’ve been envying you your seat under the tree,” 
she said. “ Couldn’t we go there for a few mo- 
ments ? ” 

Mrs. Hastings detached herself and approached 
them. She received Philip Downing’s bow cordially, 
and she was almost civil to Lutchester. 

“ I can’t have my niece taken away,” she pro- 
tested. “ We are just going in to tea, Pamela.” 

Pamela shook her head. 

“ I am going to sit under that tree with Mr. Lut- 
chester and Mr. Downing,” she declared. “ Tea 
doesn’t attract me in the least, and that tree does.” 

Mrs. Hastings accepted defeat with a somewhat 
cynical gracefulness. She closed her lorgnette with 
a little snap. 

“ You leave us all desolated, my dear Pamela,” she 
said. “You remind me of what your poor dear 
father used to say — ‘ Almost any one could live with 
Pamela if she always had her own way.’ ” 

Pamela laughed as she strolled across the lawn. 

■“ Aren’t one’s relatives trying ! ” she murmured. 


CHAPTER XXXni 


Philip Downing very soon justified the profession 
to which he belonged by strolling off with some excuse 
about paying his respects to some acquaintances. 
Pamela and Lutchester immediately dropped the 
somewhat frivolous tone of their conversation. 

‘‘ You know that things are moving with our friend 
Fischer? ” she began. 

“ I gathered so,” Lutchester assented. 

‘‘ His scheme is growing into shape,” she went on. 
“ You know what wonderful people his friends are 
for organising. Well, they are going to start a 
society all through the States and nominate for its 
president — Uncle Theodore.” 

‘‘Will they have any show at all?” Lutchester 
asked curiously. 

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“ Who can tell ? The German- Americans are very 
powerful indeed all through the West, and then the 
pacifists will join them. You see, I believe that al- 
though the soul of the country is with the Allies, 
England is the most tactless country in the world. 
She is always giving little pinpricks to the Govern- 
ment over here, either about maritime law or one 
thing or another. Then all those articles in the 
papers about America being too proud to fight, the 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


276 

sneering tone of some, even, of the leading reviews, 
did a lot of harm. Uncle Theodore is going to stand 
for what they call the true neutrality. That is to 
say, no munitions, no help for either side.” 

“ Well, I don’t know anything about American 
politics,” Lutchester "^confessed, “ but I shouldn’t 
think he’d have an earthly chance.” 

‘‘ Money is immensely powerful,” she went on re- 
flectively, “ and many of the great money interests 
of the country are controlled by German- Americans. 
Mr. Fischer has almost thrown me over politically, 
but Uncle Theodore is crazy about the idea of a 
German pledge to protect America against Japan. 
That is going to be the great argument which he will 
keep up his sleeve until after the nomination.” 

“ Fischer’s trump card,” Lutchester observed. 
“ He hasn’t shown you a certain autograph letter 
yet, I suppose.^ ” 

She shook her head. 

“ He may have shown it to Uncle Theodore. I’m 
afraid he doesn’t mean to approach me again. He 
seems to have completely changed his attitude to- 
wards me since the night he saw us at the Ritz- 
Carlton dining together. He was going to show me 
the letter the first day after his arrival in Washing- 
ton. Instead of that, he has been in the house for 
hours at a time without making the slightest attempt 
to see me.” 

“Faithless fellow!” Lutchester murmured. 
“ Nothing like an Englishman, after all, for absolute 
fidelity.” 

“ Do you really think so? ” Pamela inquired 


THE PAWNS COUNT 277 

anxiously. “ Do you think I should be safe in trust- 
ing my heart and future to an Englishman? ” 

‘‘To one particular Englishman, yes!” was the 
firm reply. “ I was rather hoping you might have 
made up your mind.” ^ 

“ Too many things to think about,” she laughed. 
“ How long are you going to stay in Washington? ” 
“ A few hours or days or weeks — until I have fin- 
ished the work that brought me here.” 

“ And what exactly is that? ” 

“ You ask me lightly,” he replied, “ but, if you 
are willing, I have decided to take you into my con- 
fidence. Our friend Nikasti will be here to-morrow. 
He was to have sailed for Japan yesterday, but he 
has postponed his voyage for a few days. Do you 
know much about the Japanese, Miss Pamela?” 

“ Very little,” she acknowledged. 

“ Well, I will tell you one thing. They are not 
very good at forgiving. There was only one way I 
could deal with Nikasti in New York, and it was a 
brutal way. I have seen him twice since. He 
wouldn’t look me in the eyes. I know what that 
means. He hates me. In a sense I don’t believe he 
would allow that to interfere in any way with his 
mission. In another sense it would. The Allies, 
above all things, have need of Japan. We want 
Japan and America to be friends. We don’t want 
Germany butting in between the two. Baron Yung 
is a very clever man, but he is even more impenetra- 
ble than his countrymen generally are. Our people 
here admit that they find it difficult to progress with 
him very far. They believe that secretly he is in 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


278 

sympathy with Nikasti’s reports — but you doiiT 
know about those, I suppose? ’’ 

“ I don’t think I do,” she admitted. 

“ Nikasti was sent to England some years ago to 
report upon us as a country. Japan at that time 
was meditating an alliance with one of the great 
European Powers. Obviously it must be Germany 
or England. Nikasti travelled all through Eng- 
land, studied our social life, measured our weak- 
nesses ; did the same through Germany, returned to 
Japan, and gave his vote in favour of Germany. I 
havje even seen a copy of his report. He laid great 
stress upon the absolute devotion to sport of our 
young men, and the entire absence of any patriotic 
sentiment or any means of national defence. Well, 
as you know, for various reasons his counsels were 
over-ridden, and Japan chose the British alliance. 
That was entirely the fault of imperfect German 
diplomacy. At a time like this, though, I cannot 
help thinking that some elements of his former dis^ 
trust still remain in Nikasti’s mind, and I have an 
idea that Baron Yung is, to a certain extent, a 
sympathiser. I’ve got to get at the bottom of this 
before I leave the States. If I need your help, will 
you give it me ? ” 

If I can,” she promised. 

They saw Mrs. Hastings’ figure on the terrace, 
waving, and Pamela rose reluctantly to her feet. 

“ I don’t suppose,” Lutchester continued, as they 
strolled across the lawn, “ that you have very much 
influence with your uncle, or that he would listen 
very much to anything that you have to say, but if 


THE PAWNS COUNT 279 

he is really in earnest about this thing, he is going 
to play a terribly dangerous game. As things are at 
present, he has a very pleasant and responsible posi- 
tion as the supporter and friend of very able men. 
With regard to this new movement, he may find the 
whole ground crumble away beneath his feet. 
Fischer is playing the game of a madman. It isn’t 
only political defeat that might come to him, but dis- 
grace — even dishonour.” 

“ You frighten me,” Pamela confessed gravely. 

Lutchester sighed. 

‘‘ Your uncle,” he went on, “ is one of those thor- 
oughly conceited, egotistical men who will probably 
listen to no one. You see, I have found out a little 
about him already. But they tell me that her social 
position means a great deal to your aunt. Neither 
her birth nor her friends could save her if Fischer 
drags your uncle to his chariot wheels.” 

“ Do you think, perhaps, that you underestimate 
Mr. Fischer’s position over here.'*” she asked 
thoughtfully. 

‘‘ I don’t think I do,” he replied, but here is 
something which you have scarcely appreciated. 
Fischer has had the effrontery to link himself up with 
a little crowd of Germans all through the States, 
who are making organised attempts to destroy the 
factories where ammunitions are being made for the 
Allies. That sort of thing, you know, would bring 
any one, however, distantly connected with it, to 
Sing Sing. . . . One moment,” he added quickly, as 
Mrs. Hastings stepped forward to meet them ; “ the 
reception at the British Embassy to-night ? ” 


28 o 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


“ The others are going,” she said. “ My aunt 
didn’t feel she was sufficiently — ” 

“We sent you a card round especially this after- 
noon,” Lutchester interrupted. “You’ll come.?” 

“ How nice of you ! Of course I will,” she prom- 
ised. 


CHAPTER XXXIV 


Small affair, this,” Downing observed, as he 
piloted Lutchester through the stately reception 
rooms of the Embassy. “ You see, we are all living 
a sort of touchy life here, nowadays. We try to 
be civil to any of the German or Austrian lot when 
we meet, but of course they don’t come to our func- 
tions. And every now and then some of those 
plaguey neutrals get the needle and they don’t come, 
so we never know quite where we are. Guadopolis 
has been avoiding us lately, and I hear he was seen 
out at the Lakewood Country Club with Count 
Reszka, the Rumanian Minister, a few days ago. 
Gave the Chief quite a little flurry, that did.” 

There’s an idea over in London,” Lutchester re- 
marked, that a good deal of the war is being shaped 
in Washington nowadays.” 

“ That is the Chief’s notion,” Downing assented. 
‘‘ I know he’s pining to talk to you, so we’ll go and 
do the dutiful.” 

Lutchester was welcomed as an old friend by both 
the Ambassador and his wife. The former drew him 
to a divan from which he could watch the entrance 
to the rooms, and sat by his side. 

I am glad they sent you out, Lutchester,” he 
said earnestly. ‘‘ If ever a country needed watch- 


282 THE PAWNS COUNT 

ing by a man with intelligence and experience, this 
one does to-day.” 

“ Do you happen to know that fellow Oscar 
Fischer? ” Lutchester asked. 

“ I do, and I consider him one of the most danger- 
ous people in the States for us,” the Ambassador de- 
clared. ‘‘ He has a great following, huge wealth, 
and, although he is not a man of culture, he doesn’t 
go about his job in that bull-headed way that most of 
them do.” 

“He’s trying things on with Japan,” Lutchester 
observed. “ I think I shall manage to checkmate 
him there all right. But there’s another scheme 
afloat that I don’t follow so closely. You know 
Senator Hastings, I suppose? ” 

The Ambassador nodded. 

“ Senator Theodore Hastings,” he repeated 
thoughtfully. “ Yes, he’s rather a dark horse. He 
is supposed to be the President’s bosom friend, but I 
hear whispers that he’d give his soul for a nomina- 
tion, adopt any cause or flght any one’s battle.” 

“ That’s my own idea of him,” Lutchester replied, 
“ and I think you will find him in the field with a 
pretty definite platform before long.” 

“ You think he’s mixed up with Fischer? ” the Am- 
bassador inquired. 

“ I’m sure he is,” Lutchester assented. “ Not only 
that, but they have something up their sleeve. I 
think I can guess what it is, but I’m not sure. How 
have things seemed to you here lately ? ” 

“ To tell you the truth, I haven’t liked the look of 
them,” the Ambassador confided. “ There’s some- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 283 

thing afoot, and I can’t be sure what it is. Look 
at the crowd to-night. Of course, all the Americans 
are here, but the diplomatic attendance has never 
been so thin. The Rumanian Minister and his wife, 
the Italian, the Spanish, and the Swedish represen- 
tatives are all absent. I have just heard, too, that 
Baron von Schwerin is giving a dinner-party.” 

Lutchester looked thoughtfully at the little stream 
of people. The Ambassador left him for a few mo- 
ments to welcome some late comers. He returned 
presently and resumed his seat by Lutchester’s side. 

“ Of course,” he continued, lowering his voice, “ all 
formal communications between us and the enemy 
Embassies have ceased, but it has come to be an 
understood thing, to avoid embarrassments to our 
mutual friends, that we do not hold functions on 
the same day. I heard that Von Schwerin was 
giving this dinner-party, so I sent round this morn- 
ing to inquire. The reply was that it was entirely a 
private one. One of our youngsters brought us in 
a list of the guests a short time ago. I see Hastings 
is one of them, and Fischer, and Rumania and Greece 
will be represented. Now Hastings was to have been 
here, and as a rule the neutrals are very punctilious.” 

‘‘ I suppose the way that naval affair was repre- 
sented didn’t do us any good,” Lutchester observed. 

“ It did us harm, without a doubt,” was the lugu- 
brious admission. Still, fortunately, these people 
over here are clever enough to understand our idio- 
syncrasies. I honestly think we’d rather whine 
about a defeat than glory in a victory.” 

‘‘ Diplomatically, too,” Lutchester remarked 


284 the pawns count 

thoughtfully, “ I should have said that things seemed 
all right here. The President comes in for a great 
deal of abuse in some countries. Personally, I think 
he has been wonderful.” 

The Ambassador nodded. 

‘‘ You and I both know, Lutchester,” he said, 
‘‘ that the last thing we want is to find America 
dragged into this war. Such a happening would be 
nothing more nor less than a catastrophe in itself, to 
say nothing of the internal dissensions here. On the 
other hand, as things are now, Washington is becom- 
ing a perfect arena for diplomatic chicanery, and I 
have just an instinct — I can’t define it in any way 
— which leads me to believe that some fresh trouble 
has started within the last twenty-four hours.” 

Lady Ridlingshawe motioned to her husband with 
her fan, and he rose at once to his feet. 

I must leave you to look after yourself for a 
time, Lut Chester,” he concluded. “ You’ll find 
plenty of people here you know. Don’t go until 
you’ve seen me again.” 

Lutchester wandered off in search of Pamela. He 
found her with Mrs. Hastings, surrounded by a lit- 
tle crowd of acquaintances. Pamela waved her fan, 
and they made way for him. 

Mr. Lutchester, I have been looking everywhere 
for you ! ” she exclaimed. What a secretive person 
you are ! Why couldn’t you tell me that Lady Rid- 
lingshawe was 3^our cousin.'^ I want you to take me 
to her, please. I met her sister out in Nice.” 

She laid her fingers upon his arm, and they passed 
out of the little circle. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 285 

All bluff, of course,” slie murmured. “ Find the 
quietest place you can. I want to talk to you.” 

They wandered out on to a balcony where some 
of the younger people were taking ices. She leaned 
over the wooden rail. 

‘‘ Listen,” she said, I adore this atmosphere, and 
I am perfectly certain there is something going on — 
something exciting, I mean. You know that the 
Baron von Schwerin has a dinner-party? ” 

I know that,” he assented. 

Uncle Theodore is going with Mr. Fischer. He 
was invited at the last moment, and I understand 
that his presence was specially requested.” 

Lutchester stood for a short time in an absorbed 
and sombre silence. In the deep blue twilight his 
face seemed to have fallen into sterner lines. With- 
out a doubt he was disturbed. Pamela looked at him 
anxiously. 

“ Is anything the matter ? ” she asked. 

He shook his head. 

Nothing definite, only for the last few hours I 
have felt that things here are reaching a crisis. 
There is something going on around us, something 
which seems to fill Fischer and his friends with con- 
fidence, something which I don’t quite understand, 
and which it is my business to understand. That is 
really what is worrying me.” 

She nodded sympathetically and glanced around 
for a moment. 

“ Let me tell you something,” she whispered. 
‘‘ This evening my uncle came into my room just be- 
fore dinner. There is a little safe built in the wall 


286 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


for jewellery. He begged for the loan of it. His 
library safe, he said, was out of order. I couldn’t 
see what he put in, but when he had closed the door 
he stood looking at it for a moment curiously. I 
made some jesting remark about its being a treasure 
chest, but he answered me seriously. ‘ You are go- 
ing to sleep to-night, Pamela,’ he said, ‘ within a few 
yards of a dozen or so of written words which will 
change the world’s history.’ ” 

Lutchester was listening intently. There was a 
prolonged pause. 

« Well.? ” he asked, at last. 

She glanced at the little Yale key which hung 
from her bracelet. 

‘‘ Nothing ! I was just wondering how I should be 
able to sleep through the night without opening the 
safe.” 

‘‘ But surely your uncle didn’t give you the key 1 ” 

She shook her head. 

“ I don’t suppose he knows I have such a thing,” 
she replied. ‘‘ He has a master-key himself to all 
the safes, which he used. This is one the house- 
keeper gave me as soon as I arrived.” 

Lutchester looked out into the darkness. 

“ Tell me,” he inquired, is that your house — ? 
the next one to this ? ” 

“ That’s the old Hastings’ house,” she assented. 
“ They are all family mansions along here.” 

It looks an easy place to burgle,” he remarked. 

She laughed quietly. 

“ I should think it would be,” she admitted. 
‘‘ There are any quantity of downstair windows. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


287 

We don’t have burglaries in Washington, though — 
certainly not this side of the city.” 

A little bevy of young people had found their way 
into the gardens. Lutchester waited until they had 
passed out of earshot before he spoke again. 

“ I have reason to believe,” he continued, that in 
the course of their negotiations Fischer has deposited 
with your uncle a certain autograph letter, of which 
we have already spoken, making definite proposals 
to America if she will change her attitude on the 
neutrality question.” 

“ The written words,” Pamela murmured. 

Lutchester’s hand suddenly closed upon her wrist. 
She was surprised to find his fingers so cold, yet 
marvellously tenacious. 

“ You are going to lose that key and I am going to 
find it,” he said, quietly. “ I am sorry — but you 
must.” 

“ I am going to do nothing of the sort,” Pamela 
objected. 

His fingers remained like a cold vice upon her 
wrist. She made no effort to draw it away. 

‘‘ Listen,” he said ; “ do you believe that the Has- 
tings-ciim-Fischer party is going to be the best thing 
that could happen for America.^” 

I certainly do not,” she admitted. 

“ Then do as I beg. Let me take that key from 
your bracelet. You shall have no other responsi- 
bility.” 

And what are you going to do with it? ” 

“ You must leave that to me,” he answered. “ I 
will tell you as much as I can. I stopped Nikasti 


288 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


sailing for Japan, but I made a mortal enemy of him 
at the same time. He has come to Washington to 
consult with his Ambassador. They are together to- 
night. It is my mission to convince them of Ger- 
many’s duplicity.” 

“I see. . . . And you think that these written 
words — ? ” 

Give the key to me,” he begged, and ask no 
questions.” 

She shook her head. 

‘‘I should object most strongly to nocturnal dis- 
turbers of my slumbers ! ” 

It seemed to her that his frame had become tenser, 
his tone harder. The grip of his fingers was still 
upon her wrist. 

Even your objection,” he said, “ might not re- 
lieve you of the possibility of their advent.” 

Don’t be silly,” she answered, “ and, above all, 
don’t try to threaten me. If you want my help — ” 

She looked steadfastly across at the looming out- 
line of the Hastings’ house. 

“ I do want your help,” he assured her. 

How long should you require the letter for? ” 

One hour,” he replied. 

She led him down some steps on to the smooth 
lawns which encircled the house. They passed in 
and out of some gigantic shrubs until at last they 
came to a paling. She felt along it for a few yards. 

“ There is a gate there,” she told him. ^ ‘‘ Can you 
do anything with it ? ” 

It was fastened by an old lock. He lifted it off 
its hinges, and they both passed through. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


289 

Keep behind the shrubs as much as jou can,” 
she whispered. “ There is a way into the house 
from the verandah here.” 

They reached at last the shadow of the building. 
She paused. 

Wait here for me,” she continued. I would 
rather enter the house without being seen, if I can, 
but it doesn’t really matter. I can make some excuse 
for coming back. Don’t move from where you 
are.” 

She glided away from him and disappeared. Lut- 
chester waited, standing well back in the shadow 
of the shrubs. From the Embassy came all the time 
the sound of music, occasionally even the murmur 
of voices; from the dark house in front of him, 
nothing. Suddenly he heard what seemed to be the 
opening of a window, and then soft footsteps. 
Pamela appeared round the corner of the building, 
a white, spectral figure against that background of 
deep blue darkness. She came on tiptoe, running 
down the steps and holding her skirts with both 
hands. 

Not a soul has seen me,” she whispered. “ Take 
this quickly.” 

She thrust an envelope into his hands, and some- 
thing hard with it. 

“ That’s Uncle Theodore’s seal,” she explained. 

He sealed up the envelope when he put it in there. 
Now come back quickly to the Embassy. You must 
please hurry with what you want to do. If I have 
left when you return, you must come back to exactly 
this place. That window ” — she pointed upwards 


290 THE PAWNS COUNT 

— “ will be wide open. You must throw a pm« cone 
or a pebble through it. I shall be waiting.” 

I understand,” he assured her. 

They retraced their steps. Once more they drew 
near to the Embassy. The night had grown warmer 
and more windows had been opened. They reached 
the verandah. She touched his hand for a moment. 

“ Well,” she said, I don’t know whether I have 
been wise or not. Try and be back in less than an 
hour, if you can. I am going in alone.” 

She left him, and Lutchester, after a few brief 
words with the Ambassador, hurried away to his 
task. In twenty minutes he stood before a tall, 
grey-stone building, a few blocks away, was admitted 
by a Japanese butler, and conducted, after some 
hesitation, into a large room at the back of the 
house. An elderly man, dressed for the evening, with 
the lapel of his coat covered with orders, was await- 
ing him. 

“ I am a stranger to you, Baron,” Lutchester be- 
gan. 

“ That does not matter,” was the grave reply. 
‘‘ Ten minutes ago I had an urgent telephone call 
from our mutual friend. His Excellency told me 
that he was sending a special messenger, and begged 
me to give you a few minutes. I have left a confer- 
ence of some importance, and I am here.” 

“ A few minutes will be enough,” Lutchester prem- 
ised. ‘‘ I am engaged by the English Government 
upon Secret Service work. I came to America, fol- 
lowing a man named Fischer. You have heard of 
him?” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


291 

“ I have heard of him,” the Ambassador acknowl- 
edged. 

“ In New York,” Lutchester continued, ‘‘ he met 
one of your countrymen. Prince Nikas ti, a man, I 
may add,” Lutchester went on, “ for whom I have 
the highest respect and esteem, although quite 
'openly, years ago, he pronounced himself unfavour- 
ably disposed towards my country. The object of 
Fischer’s meeting with Prince Nikasti was to con- 
vey to him certain definite proposals on behalf of the 
German Government. They wish for a rapproche- 
ment with your country. They offer certain terms, 
confirmation of which Fischer brought with him in 
an autograph letter.” 

There was a moment’s silence. Not a word came 
from the man who seemed to have learnt the gift of 
sitting with absolute immovability. Even his eyes 
did not blink. He sat and waited. 

“ The proposals made to you are plausible and de- 
serving of consideration,” Lutchester proceeded. 
‘‘ Do not think that there exists in my mind, or 
would exist in the mind of any Englishman knowing 
of them, any feeling of resentment that these pro- 
posals should have been received by you for consid- 
eration. Nothing in this world counts to those who 
follow the arts of diplomacy, save the simple welfare 
of the people whom he represents. It is therefore 
the duty of every patriot to examine carefully all 
proposals made to him likely to militate to the ad- 
vantage of his own people. You have a letter, offer- 
ing you certain terms to withdraw from your present 
alliances. Here is a letter from the same source, in 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


292 

the same handwriting, written to America. Break 
the seal yourself. It was brought to this country 
by Fischer, in the same dispatch box as yours, to be 
handed to some responsible person in the American 
Government. It was handed to Senator Theodore 
Hastings. It is to form part of his platform on the 
day when his nomination as President is announced. 
It must be back in his safe within three-quarters of 
an hour. Break the seal and read it.” 

The Japanese held out his hand, broke the seal of 
the envelope, and read. His face remained immov- 
able. When he had finished he looked up at his 
visitor. 

“ I am permitted to take a copy ? ” he asked. 

“ Certainly!” 

He touched a bell, spoke down a mouthpiece, and 
with almost necromantic swiftness two young men 
were in the room. A camera was dragged out, a 
little flash of light shot up to the ceiling, and the 
attaches vanished as quickly as they had come. The 
Ambassador replaced the document in its envelope, 
handed a stick of sealing-wax and a candle to Lut- 
chester, who leaned over and resealed the enve- 
lope. 

‘‘ The negative ? ” he enquired. 

‘‘ Will be kept under lock and key,” the Ambas- 
sador promised. “ It will pass into the archives of 
Japanese history. In future we shall know.” 

Once more he touched a bell. The door was 
opened. Lut Chester found himself escorted into the 
street. He was back at the Embassy in time to 
meet a little stream of departing guests. Lady Rid- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 293 

lingshawe patted him on the shoulder with her 
fan. 

“ Deserter ! ” she exclaimed, reproachfully. 
‘‘ Wherever have you been hiding? ” 

Lutchester made some light reply and passed on. 
He made his way out into the gardens. The dark- 
ness now was a little more sombre, and he had to 
grope his way to the palings. Soon he stood before 
the dark outline of the adjoining house. In the win- 
dow towards which he was making his way a single 
candle in a silver candlestick was burning. He 
paused underneath and listened. Then he took a 
pine cone which he had picked up on his way and 
threw it through the open window. The candle was 
withdrawn. A shadowy form leaned out. 

“ I’m quite alone,” she assured him softly. Can 
you throw it in? ” 

He nodded. 

I think so.” 

His first effort was successful. The seal followed, 
wrapped up in his handkerchief. A moment or two 
later he saw Pamela’s face at the window. 

“ Good night ! ” she whispered. ‘‘ Quickly, please. 
There is still some one about downstairs.” 

The light was extinguished. Lutchester made his 
way cautiously back, replaced the gate upon its 
hinges and reached the shelter of the Embassy, de- 
nuded now of guests. He found Downing in the 
smoking-room. 

“ Can I get a whisky and soda ? ” Lutchester 
asked, in response to the latter’s vociferous greeting. 

Call it a highball,” was the prompt reply, “ and 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


294 

you can have as many as you like. Have you earned 
it ? ” he added, a little curiously. 

“ I almost believe that I have,” Lutchester as- 
sented. 


CHAPTER XXXV 


Mr. Oscar Fischer and his friend, Senator Theo- 
dore Hastings, stood side bj side, a week later, in 
the bar of one of the most fashionable of New York 
hotels. They were passing away the few minutes 
before Pamela and her aunt would be ready to join 
them in the dining room above. 

‘‘ Very little news, I fancy,” Hastings remarked, 
glancing at the tape which was passing through his 
companion’s fingers. 

“ Nothing — of any importance,” Fischer replied. 
“ Nothing.” 

The older man glanced searchingly at his com- 
panion, the change in whose tone was ominous. 
Fischer was standing with the tape in his hand, his 
eyes glued upon a certain paragraph. The Senator 
took out his eyeglasses and looked over his friend’s 
shoulder. 

“ What’s this.? ” he demanded. “ Eh.? ” 

Fischer was fighting a great battle and fighting it 
well. 

“ Something wrong, apparently, with Frank 
Roughton,” he observed ; ‘‘ an old college friend of 

mine. They made him Governor of only last 

year.” 

Hastings read the item thoughtfully. 

Governor Roughton this morning tendered his 


296 THE PAWNS COUNT 

resignation as Governor of the State of . We 

understand that it was at once accepted. Numer- 
ous arrests have taken place with reference to the 
great explosion at the Bembridge powder factory."^ 

‘‘ Looks rather fishy, that,” Hastings observed 
thoughtfully. 

“ I’m sorry for Roughton,” Fischer declared. 
“ He was a perfectly straight man, and I am sure he 
has done his best.” 

“ Great friend of yours ? ” the other asked curi- 
ously. 

“ We were intimately acquainted,” was the brief 
answer. 

The two men finished their cocktails in silence. 
On their way upstairs the Senator took his compan- 
ion’s arm. 

‘‘ Fischer,” he said, ‘‘ you’ll forgive me if I put a 
certain matter to you plainly.^ ” 

“ Naturally ! ” 

“ Within the last few days,” Hastings proceeded, 
“ there have been seven explosions or fires at various 
factories throughout the States. It is a somewhat 
significant circumstance,” he added, after a slight 
pause, “ that every one of these misfortunes has 
occurred at a factory where munitions of some sort 
for the Allies have been in process of manufacture. 
Shrewd men have naturally come to the conclusion 
that there is some organisation at work.” 

“ I should doubt it,” Fischer replied. ‘‘ You must 
remember that there is always a great risk of disas- 
ters in factories where explosives are being handled. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 297 

It is a new thing to many of the manufacturers here, 
and it is obvious that they are not making use of 
all the necessary precautions.” 

“ I see,” Hastings observed, reflectively. “ So 
that is how you would explain this epidemic of dis- 
asters, eh? ” 

“ Certainly ! ” 

“ At the same time, Fischer, to set my mind en- 
tirely at rest,” Hastings continued, ‘‘ I should like 
your assurance that you have nothing whatever to do 
with any organisation, should there be such a thing, 
including in its object the destruction of American 
property.” 

“ I will do more than answer your question in the 
direct negative,” was the firm reply. I will assure 
you that no such organisation exists.” 

“ I am relieved to hear it,” Hastings confessed. 

Tliis resignation of Roughton, however, seems a 
strange thing. Most of these fires have occurred in 
his State. • • • Ah! there is Senator Joyce waiting 
for us, and Pamela and Mrs. Hastings.” 

Mr. Hastings as a host was in his element. His 
manners and tact, which his enemies declared were 
far too perfect, were both admirably displayed in the 
smaller ways of life. He guided the conversation 
into light yet opportune subjects, and he utterly 
ignored the fact that Senator J oyce, one of the great 
politicians of the day, whose support of his nomina- 
tion was already more than half promised, seemed 
distrait and a little cold. It was Pamela who quite 
inadvertently steered the conversation into a dan- 
gerous channel. 


298 THE PAWNS COUNT 

‘‘ What has Governor Roughton been doing, Mr. 
Fischer? ” she asked. 

There was a moment’s silence. Pamela’s question 
had fallen something like a bombshell amongst the 
little party. It was their guest who replied. 

The matter is occupying the attention of the 
country very largely at the moment, Miss Van Teyl,” 
he said. “ It is perhaps unfortunate that Governor 
Roughton seems to have allowed his sympathies to 
be so clearly known.” 

‘‘He is a German by birth, is he not?” Pamela 
inquired. 

“ Most decidedly not,” Fischer asserted. “ I was 
at Harvard with him.” 

“ All the same,” Pamela murmured under her 
breath, “ I think that he was born at Stuttgart.” 

“ He is an American citizen,” Senator Joyce ob- 
served, “ and has reached a high position here. We 
of the Administration may be wrong,” he continued, 
“ but we believe, and we think that we have a right 
to believe, that when any man of conscience and 
ideals takes the oath, he is free from all previous 
prejudices. He is an American citizen — nothing 
more and nothing less.” 

“ Of course, that is magnificent,” Pamela declared, 
“but it isn’t common sense, is it, and you haven’t 
answered my original question yet.” 

“ I am not in a position to do so. Miss Van Teyl,” 
Joyce replied. “ The trouble probably is that Gov- 
ernor Roughton has been considered incompetent as 
so many of these disasters have taken place un- 
hindered in his State.” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 299 

There was a rumour,” Pamela persisted, “ that 
he was under arrest.” 

“ Quite untrue, I am sure,” Fischer muttered. 

There was a general diversion of the conversation, 
but the sense of uneasiness remained. Pamela and 
Mrs. Hastings, at the conclusion of the little ban- 
quet, acting upon a hint from their host, made their 
way to one of the small drawing-rooms for their 
coffee. Left alone, the three men drew their chairs 
closer together. Joyce’s fine face seemed somehow 
to have become a little harder and more unsympa- 
thetic. He sipped the water, which was his only 
beverage, and pushed away the cigars in which he 
generally indulged. 

Mr. Hastings,” he pronounced, I have given 
the subject of supporting your nomination my deep- 
est consideration. I was at one time, I must confess, 
favourably disposed towards the idea. I have 
changed my mind. I have decided to give my sup- 
port to the present Administration.” 

Fischer’s face was dark with anger. He even 
allowed an expletive to escape from his lips. 
Hastings, however, remained master of him- 
self. 

“ I will not conceal from you, Mr. Joyce,” he con- 
fessed, “ that I am exceedingly disappointed. You 
have fully considered everything, I presume — our 
pledge, for instance, to nominate you as my suc- 
cessor? ” 

“ I have considered everything,” Joyce replied. 

The drawback in my mind, to be frank with you, is 
that I doubt whether you would receive sufficient sup- 


300 THE PAWNS COUNT 

port throughout the country. It is my idea,” he 
went on, although I may be wrong, of course, that 
the support of the German- Americans who, you must 
allow me to maintain, are an exceedingly unneutral 
part of America, will place you in an unpopular posi- 
tion. Should you succeed in getting yourself elected, 
which I very much doubt, you will be an unpopular 
President. I would rather wait my time.” 

You have changed your views,” Pischer mut- 
tered. 

“ To be perfectly frank with you, I have,” Joyce 
acknowledged. These outrages throughout the 
States are, to my mind, blatant and criminal. Di- 
rectly or indirectly, the German-American public is 
responsible for them — indirectly, by inflammatory 
speeches, reckless journalism, and point-blank lauda- 
tion of illegal acts ; directly — well, here I can speak 
only from my own suspicions, so I will remain silent. 
But my mind is made up. A man in this country, 
as you know,” he added, need make only one mis- 
take and his political future is blasted. I am not in- 
clined to risk making that one mistake.” 

Hastings sighed. He was making a brave effort 
to conceal a great disappointment. 

‘‘ One cannot argue with you, Mr. Joyce,” he re- 
gretted. “ You have come to a certain conclusion, 
and words are not likely to alter it. There is no one 
I would so dearly have loved to number amongst my 
supporters, but I see that it is a privilege for which 
I may not hope. ... We will, if you are ready, 
Fischer, join the ladies.” 

They rose from the table a few minutes later. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 301 

Fischer, who had been eagerly watching his oppor- 
tunity, drew Senator Joyce on one side for a moment 
as they passed down the crowded corridor. 

‘‘ Mr. Joyce,” he said, ‘‘ I have heard your decision 
to-night with deeper regret than I can express, yet 
more than ever it has brought home one truth to me. 
Our position towards you was a wrong one. We 
offered you a reversion when we should have offered 
you the thing itself.” 

Senator Joyce swung around. 

Say, Mr. Fischer, what are you getting at.^ ” he 
asked bluntly. 

‘‘ I mean that it is Hastings and I who should have 
been your supporters, and you who should have been 
our candidate,” Fischer suggested boldly. “ What 
about it? It isn’t too late.” 

Nothing doing, sir,” was the firm reply. “ Theo- 
dore Hastings may not be exactly my type of man, 
but I am not out to see him cornered like that, and 
besides, to tell you the honest truth, Mr. Fischer,” 
he added, pausing at the door, when I stand for the 
Presidency, I want to do so not on the nomination 
of you or your friends, or any underground schem- 
ers. I want the support of the real American citi- 
zen. I want to be free from all outside ties and 
obligations. I want to stand for America, and 
America only. I not only want to be President, you 
see, but I want to be the chosen President of the right 
sort of people. ... I am going to ask you to ex- 
cuse me to the ladies and our host, Mr. Fischer,” he 
concluded, holding out his hand. I had a note ask- 
ing me to visit the Attorney General, which I only 


S02 THE PAWNS COUNT 

received on my way here. I have an idea that it is 
about this Roughton business.” 

Fischer returned to the others alone. Hastings 
was clearly disturbed at his guest’s departure. His 
friend and supporter, however, affected to treat it 
lightly. 

‘‘Joyce is like all these lawyers,” he declared. 
“ He is simply waiting to see which way the wind 
blows. I have come across them many times. They 
like to wait till parties are evenly balanced, till their 
support makes all the difference, and clinch their 
bargain then.” 

“ I should have said,” Pamela remarked, “ that 
Mr. Joyce was a man above that sort of thing.” 

“ Every man has his price and his weak spot,” her 
uncle observed didactically. “ Joyce’s price is the 
Presidency. His weak spot is popular adulation. I 
agree with Fischer. He will probably join us later.” 

Mr. Hastings was summoned to the telephone, a 
moment or two later. Mrs. Hastings sat down to 
write a note, and Pamela moved her place over t^ 
Fischer’s side. His face brightened at her spontane- 
ous movement. She shook her head, however, at the 
little compliment with which he welcomed her. 

“ This afternoon,” she said softly, “ I met Mr. 
Lutchester.” 

“Is he back in New York?” Fischer asked, 
frowning. 

Pamela nodded. 

“ He told me something which I feel inclined to 
tell you,” she continued, glancing into her com- 
panion’s haggard face with a gleam of sympathy in 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


303 


her eyes. You’ll probably see it in the newspapers 
to-morrow morning. Governor Roughton’s resigna- 
tion was compulsory. He is under arrest.” 

For negligence.^ ” 

“ For participation,” was the grave reply. Mr. 
Lutchester has been down to — the city where these 
things took place. He only got back late this after- 
noon.” 

Lutchester again ! ” Fischer muttered. 

“ You see, it’s rather in his line,” Pamela re- 
minded him. ‘‘ He is over here to superintend the 
production of munitions from the factories which are 
working for the British Government.” 

“ He is over here as a sort of general mischief- 
maker ! ” Fischer exclaimed fiercely. Do I under- 
stand that he has been down in ? ” 

Pamela nodded. 

He went down with one of the heads of the New 
York police.” 

She turned away, but Fischer caught at her wrist. 

You know more than this ! ” he cried hoarsely. 

The agony in the man’s face and tone touched 
her. After all, he was fighting for the great things. 
There was nothing mean about Fischer, nothing 
selfish about his lying and his crimes. 

“ I have told you all that I can,” she whispered, 
“ but if you hurried, you could catch the New York 
to-night — and I think I should advise you to go.” 


CHAPTER XXXVI 


Fischer, on leaving his unsuccessful dinner party, 
drove direct to the residence of Mr. Max H. 
Bookam, in Fifth Avenue. The butler who admitted 
him looked a little blank at his inquiry. 

“ Mr. Bookam was expected home yesterday, 
sir,” he announced. “ He has not arrived, however.” 

‘‘Has there been any telegram from him? — any 
news as to the cause of his non-return? ” Fischer 
persisted. 

“ I believe that Mr. Kaye, his secretary, has some 
information, sir,” the man admitted. “ Perhaps 
you would like to see him.” 

Fischer did not hesitate, and was conducted at 
once to the study in which ]Mr. Bookam was wont 
to indulge in various nefarious Stock Exchange ad- 
ventures. The room was occupied on this occasion 
by a dejected-looking young man, with pasty face 
and gold spectacles. The apartment, as Fischer 
was quick to notice, showed signs of a strange dis- 
order. 

“Where’s Mr. Bookam?” he asked quickly. 

The young man walked to the door, shook it to 
be sure that it was closed, and came back again. 
His tone was ominous, almost dramatic. 

“ In the State Prison at , sir,” he announced. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


305 

‘‘What for? ” Fischer demanded, breathing a lit- 
tle thickly. 

“ I have no certain information,” the secretary 
replied, with a noncommittal air. “ All I know is 
that I had a long-distance telephone to bum certain 
documents, but before I could do so the room and 
the house were searched by New York detectives, 
whose warrant it was useless to resist.” 

“But what’s the charge against Mr. Bookam? ” 

“ It’s something to do with the disasters in ,” 

the young man confided. “ The Governor of the 
State, who is Mr. Bookam’s cousin, is in the same 
trouble. . . . Better sit down a moment, sir. 
You’re looking white.” 

Mr. Fischer threw himself into an easy-chair. He 
felt like a man who has built a mighty piece of 
machinery, has set it swinging through space, and 
watches now its imminent collapse; watches some 
tiny but ghastly flaw, pregnant with disaster, grow- 
ing wider and wider before his eyes. 

“ What papers did the police take away with 
them?” he asked. 

“ There wasn’t very much for them,” the secretary 
replied. “ There was a list of the names of the pro- 
posed organisation which, owing to your very wise 
intervention, was never formed. There was a list 
of factories throughout the United States in which 
munitions are being made, with a black mark against 
those holding the most important contracts. And 
there was a letter from Governor Roughton.” 

“ Mr. Bookam hasn t drawn any cheques lately for 
large amounts?” Fischer inquired eagerly. 


306 THE PAWNS COUNT 

“ There are three in his private cheque-book, sir, 
the counterfoils of which are not filled in,” was the 
somewhat dreary admission. 

Fischer groaned as he received the news. 

“ Have you any idea about those cheques ? ” he 
demanded. 

“ I am afraid,” the other acknowledged, that 
Mr. Bookam was not very discreet. I reminded him 
of your advice — that the money should be passed 
through Sullivan — but he didn’t seem to think it 
worth while.” 

Look here, let me know the worst at once,” 
Fischer insisted. ‘‘ Do you believe that any one of 
those cheques was made payable to any of the men 
who are under arrest? ” 

“ I am afraid,” the secretary declared sadly, “ that 
the proceeds of one were found on the person of 
Ed. Swindles, intact.” 

Fischer sat for a moment with his head buried in 
his hands. ‘‘ That any man could have been such a 
fool. An organisation would have been a thousand 
times safer. Max Bookam was only a very worthy 
and industrious clothing manufacturer, with an in- 
tense love for the Fatherland and a great veneration 
for all her institutions. What he had done, he had 
done whole-heartedly but foolishly. He was a man 
who should never have been trusted for a moment 
in the game. After all, the pawns count. . . .” 

Fischer took his leave and reached his hotel a little 
before midnight. Already he had begun to look 
over his shoulder in the street. He found his rooms 
empty with a sense of relief, marred by one little 


THE PAWNS COUNT 307 

disappointment. Nikasti was to have been there to 
bid him farewell — Nikasti on his way back to Japan. 
He ascertained from the office of the hotel that there 
had been no telephone message or caller. Then he 
turned to his correspondence, some presentiment al- 
ready clutching at his strained nerves. There was 
a letter in a large envelope, near the bottom of the 
pile, addressed to him in Nikasti’s fine handwriting. 
He tore open the envelope, and slow horror seized 
him as he realised its contents. A long photograph 
unrolled itself before his eyes. The first few words 
brought confusion and horror to his sense. His 
brain reeled. This was defeat, indeed! It was a 
photograph of that other autograph letter. The one 
which he had given to Nikasti to carry to Japan 
lay — gross sacrilege ! — about him in small pieces. 
There was no other line, no message, nothing but 
this damning proof of his duplicity. 

A kind of mental torture seized him. He fought 
like a caged man for some way out. Every sort of ex- 
planation occurred to him only to be rejected, every 
sort of subterfuge, only to be cast aside with a kind of 
ghastly contempt. He felt suddenly stripped bare. 
His tongue could serve him no more. He snatched 
at the telephone receiver and rang up the number for 
which he searched eagerly through the book. 

“ Is that the office of the American Steamship 
Company ? ” he asked. 

« Yes.” 

‘‘What time will the New York sail.^ ” 

“ In three-quarters of an hour. Who’s speak- 
ing.? ” 


3o8 the pawns count 

“ Mr. Oscar Fischer. Keep anything you have 
for me.” 

He threw down the receiver for fear of a refusal, 
packed a few things feverishly in a dressing bag, 
dashed the rest of his correspondence into his pocket, 
and with the bag in one hand, and an overcoat over 
the other arm, he hastened out into the street. He 
was obliged at first to board a street car. After- 
wards he found a taxicab, and drove under the great 
wooden shed as the last siren was blowing. He hur- 
ried up the gangway, a grim, remorseful figure, a 
sense of defeat gnawing at his heart, a bitter, haunt- 
ing fear still with him even when, with a shriek of the 
tugs, the great steamer swung into the river. He 
was leaving forever the work to which he had given 
so much of his life, leaving it a fugitive and dis- 
honoured. The blaze of lights, the screaming of the 
great ferry-boats, all the triumphant, brazen noises 
of the mighty city, sounded like a requiem to him as 
in the darkest part of the promenade deck he leaned 
over the railing and nursed his agony, the supreme 
agony of an ambitious man — failure. 


CHAPTER XXXVII 


“ What has become,” Mrs. Theodore Hastings 
asked her niece one afternoon about a month later, 
“ of your delightful friend, Mr. Lutchester ” 

Pamela laid down her book and looked across at 
her aunt with wide-open eyes. 

“ Why, I thought you didn’t like him, aunt ? ” 

‘‘ I cannot remember saying so, my dear,” Mrs. 
Hastings replied. ‘‘ I had nothing against the man 
himself. It was simply his attitude with regard to 
some of your uncle’s plans, of which we disapproved.” 

Pamela nodded. They were seated on the piazza 
of the Hastings’ country house at Manchester. 

“ I see ! . . . And uncle’s plans,” she went on re- 
flectively, ‘‘ have become a little changed, haven’t 
they ? ” 

Mrs. Hastings coughed. 

‘‘ There is no doubt,” she admitted, ‘‘ that your 
Uncle Theodore was inveigled into supporting, to a 
certain extent, a party whose leaders have shown 
themselves utterly irresponsible. The moment these 
horrible things began to come out, however, your 
uncle finally cut himself loose from them.” 

“ Very wise of him,” Pamela murmured. 

“ Who could have believed,” Mrs. Hastings de- 
manded, “ that men like Oscar Fischer, Max 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


310 

Book am and a dozen other well-known and prominent 
millionaires, would have stooped to encourage the 
destruction of American property and lives, simply 
through blind devotion to the country of their birth. 

I could understand,” she went on, both your uncle 
and I perfectly understood that their sympathies 
were German rather than English, but we shared a 
common belief that notwithstanding this they were 
Americans first and foremost. It was in this belief 
that your uncle was led into temporary association 
with them.” 

‘‘ Bad luck,” Pamela sighed. I am afraid it 
hasn’t done Uncle Theodore any good.” 

Mrs. Hastings went on with her knitting for a 
moment. 

“ My child,” she said, “ it has probably imper- 
illed, if it has not completely ruined, one of the great 
hopes which your uncle and I have sometimes enter- 
tained. We are both of us, however, quite philo- 
sophical about it. Even at this moment I am con- 
vinced that if these men had acted with discretion, * 
and been content to wield political influence rather 
than to have resorted to such fanatical means, they 
would have represented a great power at the next 
election. As things are, I admit that their cause is 
lost for the time. I believe that your uncle is con- 
templating an early visit to England. He is of the 
opinion that perhaps he has misunderstood the Allied 
point of view, and he is going to study matters at 
first hand.” 

Pamela nodded. 

“ I think he is very wise, aunt,” she declared. I 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


311 

quite expect that he will come back a warm advocate 
of the Allies. No one would have a ghost of a chance 
who went to the country here on the other 
ticket.” 

I believe that that is your uncle’s point of view,” 
Mrs. Hastings assented. . . . “ Why don’t you ask 
Mr. Lutchester down for a couple of days? ” 

“ If you mean it, I certainly will,” Pamela agreed. 

Quite incidentally,” her aunt continued, “ I 
heard the nicest possible things about him in Wash- 
ington. Lady Ridlingshawe told me that the Lut- 
chesters are one of the oldest families in England. 
He is a cousin of the Duke of Worcester, and is ex- 
traordinarily well connected in other directions. I 
must say he has a most distinguished appearance. 
A well-bred Englishman is so different from these 
foreigners.” 

Pamela laid down her book and drew her writing 
block towards her. 

“ I’ll write and invite him down at once,” she sug- 
gested. 

Your uncle will be delighted,” Mrs. Hastings 
purred. . . . 

Lutchester received his invitation in New York 
and arrived in Manchester three days later. Pamela 
met him at the station with a couple of boatmen by 
her side. 

‘‘If you wouldn’t mind sailing home?” she pro- 
posed. “ The house is practically on an island, and 
the tide is just right. These men will take your lug- 
gage.” 

They walked down to the little dock together. 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


312 

Pamela talked all the time, but Lutchester was curi- 
ously tongue-tied. 

“ You’ll find Uncle Theodore, and aunt, too, most 
amusing,” she confided. “ It is perfectly obvious 
that there is nothing uncle regrets so much as his 
temporary linking up with Fischer and his friends ; 
in fact, he is going to Europe almost at once — I am 
convinced for no other reason than to give him an 
excuse, upon his return, for blossoming out as a 
fervent supporter of the Allies.” 

“ Are you going too ? ” Lutchester inquired. 

‘‘Shall I? Well, I am not really sure,” she de- 
clared, as they reached the little wooden dock. “ I 
suppose I shall, especially if I can find something to 
do. I may even turn nurse.” 

“ You will be able to find plenty to do,” he assured 
her. “ If nothing else turns up, you can help me.” 

They stepped on to the yacht. Pamela, a radiant 
vision in white, with white flannel skirt, white jersey 
and tam-o’-shanter, took the helm, and was busy for 
a few moments getting clear. Afterwards she leaned 
back amongst the cushions, with Lutchester by her 
side. 

“ In the agitation of missing that buoy,” he re- 
minded her, “ you forgot to answer my last sugges- 
tion.” 

“ Is there any way in which I could help you ? ” 
she asked. 

“ You can help me in the greatest of all ways,” he 
replied promptly. “ You can give me just that help 
which only the woman who cares can give to the man 
who cares for her, and if that isn’t exciting enough,” 


THE PAWNS COUNT 313 

he went on, after a moment’s pause, well, I dare 
say I can find you some work in the censor’s depart- 
ment.” 

“ Isn’t censoring a little dull? ” she murmured. 

“ Then you choose — ” 

Her hand slipped into his. A little breeze filled 
their sails at that moment. The wonderful blue 
water of the bay sparkled with a million gleams of 
sunshine. Lutchester drew a great breath of con- 
tent. 

“ That’s aunt on the landing-stage, watching us 
through her glasses,” Pamela pointed out, making a 
feeble attempt to withdraw her hand. 

‘‘ It will save us the trouble,” he observed, resisting 
her effort, “ of explanations.” 

Lutchester found his host and hostess unexpectedly 
friendly. They even accepted with cheerful philoso- 
phy the news that Lutchester’s work in America was 
almost finished for the time, and that Pamela was 
to accompany him to Europe almost immediately. 
After dinner, when the two men were left at the table, 
Hastings became almost confidential. 

“ So far as regards the sympathies of this country, 
Mr. Lutchester,” he said, “ the final die has been cast 
within the last few weeks. There has always been,” 
he proceeded, ‘‘ a certain irritation existing between 
even the Anglo-Saxon Americans and your country. 
We have fancied so often that you have adopted 
little airs of superiority towards us, and that your 
methods of stating your intentions have not always 
taken account of our own little weaknesses. Then 
America, you know, loves a good fight, and the Ger- 


THE PAWNS COUNT 


314 

mans are a wonderful military people. They were 
fighting like giants whilst you in England were still 
slacking. But it is Germany herself, or rather her 
sons and friends, who have destroyed her chances for 
her. Fischer, for instance,” he went on, fingering 
his wineglass. ‘‘ I have always looked upon Oscar 
Fischer as a brilliant and far-seeing man. He was 
one of those who set themselves deliberately to win 
America for the Germans. A more idiotic bungle 
than he has made of things I could scarcely conceive. 
He has reproduced the diplomatic methods which 
have made Germany unpopular throughout the 
world. He has tried bullying, cajolery, and false- 
hood, and last of all he has plunged into crime. No 
German- American will henceforth ever have weight 
in the counsels of this country. I do not mind con- 
fessing,” Mr. Hastings continued, as he himself filled 
his guest’s glass and then his own, ‘‘ that I myself 
was at one time powerfully attracted towards the 
Teuton cause. They are a nation wonderful in 
science, wonderful in warfare, with strong and ad- 
mirable national characteristics. Yet they are going 
to lose this war through sheer lack of tact, for the 
want of that kindliness, that generosity of tempera- 
ment, which exists and makes friends in nations as 
in individuals. The world for Germany, you know, 
and hell for her enemies ! . . . But I am keeping 
you.” 

Lutchester drank his wine and rose to his feet. 

“ Pamela is sitting on the rocks there,” Mr. Hast- 
ings observed. “ I think that she wants to sail you 
over to Misery Island. We get some unearthly meal 


THE PAWNS COUNT 315 

there at ten o’clock and come back by moonlight. It 
is a sort of torture which we always inflict upon our 
guests. My wife and I will follow in the launch.” 

‘‘To Misery Island ! ” Lutchester repeated. 

His host smiled as he led the way to the piazza 
steps. Pamela had already stepped into the boat, 
and with the help of a boatman was adjusting the 
sail. She waved her hand gaily and pointed to the 
level stretch of placid water, still faintly brilliant in 
the dying sunlight. 

“ You think that we shall reach Misery Island be- 
fore the tide turns ? ” she called out. 

Lutchester stepped lightly into the boat and took 
the place to which she pointed. 

“ I am content,” he said, “ to take my chance.” 


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Cranberry Twp., PA 16066 
(412) 779-2111 


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